Pikmin 3: The Journey of a Lifetime
by SkyhighAngel
Summary: The planet of Koppai is facing an inevitable doomsday due to a boom in population resulting in the depletion of all food resources. Three explorers are sent out to the Pikmin Planet in order to retrieve seeds to save their starving planet. Easier said than done, as the three explorers are about to learn.
1. Chapter 1: The Distant Planet

**Galactic date: 20XX**

At the ends of space, a planet is going down a dead-end street to ruin. The planet is known as Koppai. Due to a rise in population, appetites, and a basic lack of planning, Koppai's inhabitants have nearly worn-out their food supply. Their only hope of salvation is to find another planet with edible food matter.

Thus, they send unmanned scout vessels called "SPEROs" out into space.

But to their dismay, the search was turning up nothing…

Just as they were about to completely give up, the final vessel reports back with news of a miraculous discovery! A planet on the other side of the galaxy was revealed to be a gold mine of fruit! The SPERO nearly blew up the readings were so off the chart! Surely it was more than enough to save the dying planet!

They mobilize to investigate the planet, which they name PNF-404.

Koppai's last hope now rests on three intrepid explorers. Alph, a young engineer, Brittany, a botanist and Charlie, the captain of their ship; The S.S. Drake.

At last… the explorers' 279,000 light-year voyage nears its end…

* * *

**Exploration Day 1 – 08:44  
Charlie's POV **

"There's the planet everyone! Preparing to initiate landing sequence!"

Brittney was sure excited, "Wow! PNF-404 looks so beautiful! I bet the fruit is super delicious!"

"It is beautiful." Alph replied, "Exploring a new planet, this'll be awesome!"

Despite our hunger situation, the mood on the ship was quite lighthearted. The planet looked very promising from our perspective. With confidence and determination, we can gather up as much as we can. That was our objective.

Then it happened, Shortly after everyone got to their landing positions we hit minor turbulence.

"Hold tight everyone! We'll be landing shortly!"

Instability caused by nearing a planet's atmosphere is not uncommon, but something about this seemed very wrong. With each passing second the trembling got worse and worse.

I fought to regain control, at the same time wondering, _"What is going on!?"_

All three of us were holding on for dear life, not knowing what the problem was. A mechanical malfunction? An interfering transmission perhaps? Or something else entirely…?

"Sir what's happening!?" Alph called out.

"What are we going to do!?" Brittney franticly asked.

"The ship is gone crazy! Hold for your life crew, looks like we're in for a rough landing!"

Our ship was going completely haywire by that point. We began to tumble in a spiraling motion; even the most hardened of stomachs would get motion sickness. I knew at that point that trying to get back control was impossible.

***BOOM***

Without warning we were ejected into the atmosphere. I twist and turned all around looking for my crew. I saw Brittany flying straight down into the planet; she was pretty far off. Alph was even further away, hurling in an arch shape. I too, was falling in a curved path. Each passing second got more and more terrifying, as I fell out of low orbit my falling speed accelerated massively.

I blacked out within seconds…

I found myself looking up at a dark blue sky, past the bare trees and… some… yellow creatures? Am I seeing things?

I kid you not, there were these banana yellow creatures looking down at me. They had large ears and made these little curious noises. Each of them also had a stem with leaves on their heads… They resembled plants. As my vision became clearer, they disappeared from my sight.

"Ugh… Where am I…?"

It didn't take me long to realize I wasn't dreaming, The cold bit me hard and I sprung to my feet.

"That's right! I'm at PNF-404!"

Immediately I took out my communicator and tried to contact The Drake.

"This is Charlie speaking. Do you copy? I repeat, this is Charlie, your Captain. Come in!"

…

Just my luck, no one was responding, "I have to locate Brittany and Alph." Question is… where could they be? Sheesh… they could be anywhere on this planet.

There was a wide path in front of me, so at least the first steps of my journey wouldn't be too difficult. I set off to find my crew with the snow crunching beneath my feet. I realized then, that I wasn't alone. Those yellow creatures I thought I was just dreaming of were watching me from up in the trees!

"What the-!? What are those things?"

Everywhere I looked I could see them! On some leaves and on the ledges! I was surrounded. I could hear them making conversation amongst themselves in their foreign language. I continued on with much more haste than before, hoping to lose sight of them. It was so creepy the way they just stared at me like that…

_I seemed to have wandered into a strange neighborhood… _

I turned a sharp corner and to my surprise there was a small colony of them sitting on a ledge.

I leapt in the air I was so shocked. This got their attention as all of their heads turned at me simultaneously.

As this wasn't nerve-wracking enough, they all got to their feet and started advancing toward me, I felt an adrenaline rush!

_They're coming toward me! My whistle should scare them off!_

I took my whistle and blew into it as hard as I could, making the loudest sound possible. I thought this would make them run away for sure, but no, it had the opposite effect. They huddled all around me. Sure they appeared startled by the loud noise, but they didn't run the other way like I thought they would!

_No! I'm surrounded!_

My next thought was to force them away by physical means. I grabbed one of them by the arm.

_Wow these creatures are light…_ I tossed it to some random mushrooms.

"There you go!"

The others didn't seem fazed at all they kept staring at me! I grabbed another one, and tossed. Then again! And again and again!

"Get away from me! Shoo! Scat!"

No matter how many times I threw them away, they kept coming back! They were like living, breathing boomerangs! I noticed overtime that they didn't appear to mean me any harm. That was good news.

"Huh… they don't seem to be hostile… In fact, they seem to see me as a leader…"

They just looked at me, like a group of students watching their teacher. The cold wind howled outside my helmet as I studied these life-forms.

"I suppose these fellows can be of some use."

I moved forth with them following behind me. As we pressed on the path was getting narrower. Seconds later, I was hit with this rancid smell.

We came across a giant mushroom! It was blocking the path. I did what I learned and threw my tiny squad onto the mushroom and they beat it down with the leaves on their heads.

It stunk like rotting cheese! It looked like it too! Yuck! Well I know what we WON'T be bringing back with us…

The mushroom was no match for these little creatures. It crumbled within seconds. Beyond the remains was an entrance to what looked like a cave. I passed through and came back again outside where a log bridge led to another entrance. Here I could faintly hear the sound of a river under our feet.

The yellow creatures were still following me, at this point I'm no longer surprised but questions flooded my mind. What are these things? Why are they following me? At the same time I was disappointed that our mission got off to such a disastrous start…

_All we had to do is come here and collect food for our people… But now here I am, separated from my crew members and my ship, I have no idea where any of them could be…_

My train of thought was interrupted by a sudden drop in light when I entered the other cave. I stopped to give my eyes time to adjust, but it didn't do me very much good… Guided by the light from the outside, I took cautious steps.

From the darkness, I could hear rustling. Something else is here! Is it friendly? Hostile? Is it even alive?

I couldn't tell which way the sound was coming from, whatever it is it's all around me! As if the timing couldn't have been better, glowing mushrooms suddenly popped out of the ground giving me an in-your-face view of a pack of small but ugly monsters! These I KNEW were hostile, otherwise they wouldn't be baring their razor-sharp teeth at me!

I started throwing my tame creatures toward these… things… They had been stunned by the light so it was quite easy for the yellow aliens to kill these monsters.

_Whew! That was a close call!_ Or so I thought.

A shadow whisked its way past me, I turned and noticed nothing. I know I'm not imagining things, I know I saw something. I turned again, and yet again… still nothing.

Suddenly my team did a jump scare reaction and fled into the dark. I watched them run and I saw… I don't even know…

"HOLY SMOKES!"

* * *

**Alph's POV**

I was alive after the crash. I don't know how but I was. It sure was a miracle. I woke up floating in a small pool of water staring up at the sunny forest sky.

Just as The S.S. Drake crossed my mind, it crossed my line of sight. It puffed little breaths of smoke out of its exhaust, flying in a clumsy manner.

***Crash***

I could hear tree branches snapping and rustling. I could only hope that the emergency crash-landing function worked its promise and kept the ship from completely wrecking. Otherwise, we're screwed.

I swam to where it was shallow enough for me to stand, _"We were just about to land… but the SS Drake lost control… and we were ejected out. I hope Brittany and Charlie are safe. I have to find the Drake too!"_

I splashed my way out of the water into the white sand.

And there was a red creature standing right there! It had a stem growing out of the top of his head with a leaf at the end. I had never seen anything like that before! We stared at each other for a few seconds before we both decided to have a startled reaction. The creature flipped around and bolted down the path.

I stood there, stunned, "What was that?"

I ran down the path, following the tiny footprints of the creature. I reached another open area and noticed there were two others!

_There's the creature I saw just now! Looks like it's got friends!_

They were jumping at something in a nearby branch, whatever it was, they wanted it.

"What is that thing caught on the branch?"

It looked like some kind of fruit. But I couldn't see it well enough to confirm anything. The huge leaves were obscuring it well. The red guys seemed so fixated on it they didn't seem to notice I was there.

_Is there anything I can do?_

The first thing I thought to do was to get their attention, I sounded my whistle and they promptly responded. They approached me very nicely and seemed eager to meet me.

"Wow! What friendly little guys!"

I pondered on how we were going to get that flower looking thing down. That branch had a tight grip on it. My first thought was to try and throw something at it hoping it would loosen and fall. I looked around and there was nothing around that would do the job. Except… these little guys. Silly as that sounded it was worth a shot.

I grabbed the one nearest to me by the scruff of its neck and flung it toward the 'fruit'. To my surprise it caught it and managed to hang on despite its tiny arms.

"All right!"

I took another one and repeated the throw. That one too, grabbed on. I tossed the last one, and the weight of the three creatures proved too much for that branch. The object fell into the sand and began to glow a bright red color.

"Awesome!"

The object was some red thing, with a flower coating the top.

Even more surprises, the object spurted glittery lights and levitated into the air. Three yellow tentacles wiggled its way out of the weird thing, acting as legs. The little guys jumped for joy and cheered, dancing around the machine.

"What is this thing?" I wondered, "I was hoping this would be fruit but… It doesn't look like it would be edible… Still… the little red guys seem pretty happy now we've freed it."

I walked away to continue my search for The Drake. But I turned again upon hearing tiny running feet sounds behind me.

_H-hey they're following me!_

I guess these little guys took a liking to me.

The one closest to me suddenly made a cute little sound and ran for a freakishly tall posy. It jumped on the stem and began to whack it repeatedly. What was it doing? These creatures have some weird habits…

The flower eventually dropped into the ground leaving behind a small pellet. What was that thing? The little guy had drug it toward the thing we just got loose from the tree. Under the red beam that the strange thing was casting, the pellet was quickly sucked into the strawberry lookalike. The flower tip span rapidly and seeds popped out, dancing gracefully from the air to the ground.

"Wow! It just produced sprouts! So this is where these little creatures come from. How strange…"

One by one I plucked the sprouts out of the ground, each little guy making a happy noise as they flipped over my head. With a bigger team, I set out to find the Drake. Which would be a difficult task in itself, if only I had my Koppad…

As luck would have it, across a wide dip in the sand, was my KopPad. There was no way I would be able to jump across this… and I don't see any alternative route.

"I have to get over there somehow… Hmm…"

As the gears in my mind began to turn one of the little guys began tugging on my arm. I looked to where it was pointing.

The little guy had guided me to a strange pile of… bricks maybe?

"What's this pile of rubble?" I wondered. They skipped over to the ruin and began plucking little pieces one by one. They ran back and forth from the dip to the pile.

"What are they doing?"

After some back and forth trips the layout they had made fell forward and created a bridge just long enough to make it across the gap!

"Wonderful! Now I can get across!"

I hurriedly rushed over and turned the Koppad on. To my surprise and relief, it booted up just fine.

"Great! It still works. Thank goodness… Of course, I'd expect nothing less from Koppaite engineering." A bit of bragging to myself, engineering being my own profession.

The little guys looked at each other curiously, making these confused little noises. They were really cute, the way they looked and spoke. It was all quite adorable. I brushed aside my opinions to focus on the task at hand, using my Koppad to find the Drake.

By following the Drakes signal on the Koppad, I was able to determine that it was close by.

"Awesome! The Drake isn't too far from here. Maybe Brittany and Charlie are there, I should hurry over."

I followed the path that led in the direction of the Drake, unexpectedly these abnormally large bugs emerged from the ground.

"Whoa!" I nearly fell over backwards.

My team of little guys pounced on these bugs and killed them rather quickly. They lifted the carcasses of the bugs and carried them back to their little base, producing more seeds. I watched in amazement.

"Yesterday's foe is today's food. Wow... Nature is unforgiving."

Now with a team of 21, I continued down the sand path hoping that I wouldn't get anymore unpleasant surprises-  
***TRIP!***

"Ow what the-!?" I flipped over and searched the grains of sand that I just fell over. I noticed a strange object jutting out of the ground.

"Huh? What's this?"

I carefully lifted the item out of the earth and brushed it off, "Hmm… Looks like someone's left a data file here. Perhaps the Koppad will be able to read it."

I inserted the small data into the slot and the Koppad immediately began to load something onto the screen. What came up appeared to be observation notes. Complete with illustrations.

_"The Onion is like a nest for the Pikmin. It both gives birth to them and provides them with shelter."_

"Excellent! The Koppad can read the data file!" I turned around to my squad, "So… these creatures are called Pikmin?"

The little guys began to bounce happily, obviously excited that I'm getting to know them better.

"This information will definitely come in handy later. I should save this… I wonder who created this data file? I don't think Captain Charlie could've created this… Could there be other intelligent life forms on this planet?"

I continued to follow the direction of the signal, "Now according to the radar… the Drake should be this way."

The signal eventually led me to a small cavern entrance, I wasn't completely trusting of the dark opening but looking at the map, I had no other path. High on alert I entered the cave, which turned out to be not as bad as I was planning. Just a bunch of mushrooms, some of them glowing, some of them didn't glow, but were gigantic!

"Wow! Those mushrooms are enormous!"

My Pikmin team dashed ahead of me and began to beat the non-glowing mushrooms senseless. These Pikmin sure have a lot of energy to spare… this could be useful.

When the mushroom crumbled away I was suddenly pounded with a horrible smell!

"Gross! These are definitely not edible!" It was so bad my eyes began to water.

I whistled for my team and fled that awful stench. Looking at the Pikmin they didn't seem to fazed by it somehow, which was so weird because they had noses too!

When I felt the reeking fragrance starting to fade I came across a wall made entirely out of dirt! Geez, it's just one surprise after another today! How could this wall be here?

"Could this be the work of an intelligent life form?"

I commanded my Pikmin to attack the wall, I observed these creatures with admiration.

"My crew could learn a lot from this kind of team work no doubt."

The dirt wall became falling dust within seconds, revealing the light from outside. I gathered my Pikmin and hurried.

"I hope they're both okay!"

By the time we were out the sun had begun to set and the blue sky was now a vivid orange. Slowing down my pace I looked around.

A miracle had been granted to me once more, standing there proud and in perfect shape was the SS Drake.

"All right! The SS Drake is here!" I rushed over.

"Brittany? Captain Charlie? Is anybody here?"

* * *

**Brittany's POV**

It all happened so fast I didn't have time to even brace myself, we were launched from the Drake right when we were about to land. Now I'm in free fall with no way to slow myself down. I thought for sure I was a goner, I looked down and saw the ground rushing up at me so fast. I scrunched my eyes shut hoping this wouldn't be too painful.

Ack! I landed in a giant tree, and my descent was greatly slowed. Tumbling down the tree I felt like I was in a pinball machine. After what felt like an eternity I dropped out of the mass leaves and smacked on the ground.

"Ow… That really hurt."

I got to my feet carefully, checking to see if anything is broken. I seemed to be all right so I looked around. Just my luck there were tall ledges all around me. There was no way I'd be able to climb out of this. The only way I could see out was this one section of the wall was made out of… crystal maybe? I ran over to the glass and started trying to break through with my fists. But the crystal was tough… I couldn't even make a crack.

"Oh no… what am I going to do?"

Alph and Charlie came to mind, "I hope Alphie's okay… I wonder where the Captain is…"

From the other side of the wall I heard growling and stomping, it was the scariest thing I've ever heard. I ran behind this small boulder that was in my little area staying out of sight of the see-thru part.

With caution I peeked out, hoping to catch a glimpse of the source of the noise.

_Oh my gosh what is that thing!?_

As soon as I did I immediately hid back behind the rock, Seriously! This giant black monster with red spots on its back tromped by! It had stalky eyes and a big mouth too… It stopped and sniffed around, in time for a group of smaller versions to catch up! I'm guessing those are that things offspring.

I could hear my heart beating inside my ears, I kept hiding waiting for that thing to move along. I heard him sniffing around and the little ones yapping. Then all noise stopped.

I was about to crawl out of my space, when I heard that beast tapping on the crystal… No please stop doing that! I'm not edible! It was quiet again, then I heard a loud bang and a roar. What I'm guessing happened is that beast tried to smash the crystal, but the crystal must be some tough crystal to rebound that monster.

After more terrifying seconds I heard the creature go away. I just came to get fruit and it's come to this! I haven't even been here for an hour! Now that the creature is gone I should try to contact Alph…

* * *

**Alph's POV**

The sound of the wind was the only response, I was all alone, "What am I going to do now?"

_*beepbeepbeep* *beepbeepbeep*_

My Koppad started vibrating in my hands, someone was calling! I hurriedly pressed the answer button.

"Alph! It's me, Brittany! Do you copy?"

I felt a surge of relief, "Brittany! I'm here!"

"Thank goodness! You're with the S.S. Drake, right?"

"I just now found the ship. Are you all right? Where are you?"

"I made it through the landing in one piece. The thing is, I'm trapped somewhere. I can't get out."

_Oh no…_

"And I'm star-" With a crackle and fuzz within the transmission, Brittany disappeared from the screen.

"Oh, no! We've been cut off! I wonder how far away she is… In any case, I'm glad that she seems to be safe and sound."

From off in the distance I heard something that sounded like a roar, seconds later some growling.

"What was that?" I looked out to the west horizon; the sun was just barley poking out of the line.

"The sun is setting, the nocturnal predators must be waking up now. I hope Brittany will be safe wherever she is… And Captain Charlie… I haven't heard anything from him…"

At this point I knew the best course of action would be to get off the planet's surface for now. I put my Koppad away and boarded the Drake with a feeling of unease.

The Drake blasted off into the bright pink sky, the trees and terrain getting smaller as I lifted higher. I was surprised to notice the Pikmin Onion was lifting off with me. After a rush through some thick clouds we emerged to a sea of stars.

I took the time to write in my journal,

_Here we are, shipwrecked! Our journey has certainly gotten off on the wrong foot. Not only that, most of our supplies were destroyed in the wreck. Leaving us with very little juice left… I'll have to start finding some local food tomorrow… To make matters worse, I can't find our cosmic-drive key anywhere! Without that we can't leave the planet! I managed to make contact with Brittany… she's safe… for now…_


	2. Chapter 2: Where are you Brittany?

**Brittany's POV**

I face a long and terrifying night, all these loud nocturnal monsters kept me awake and restless. I kept hidden behind a rock, jumping at the various sounds. The roaring, the slithering, and the occasional plopping noise.

At one moment, all sound stopped. I peaked out at the glass and to my relief I saw nothing... at first. Eventually I heard familiar stomping noises. I kept watching and eventually I saw a silhouette...oh please don't tell me that's what I think it is! My fears were confirmed when I heard the sounds of juveniles. It's back... oh no that thing is back!

When it faced me, It had the scariest glowing purple eyes I had ever seen...

I scrunched up behind the rock, I heard that thing sniffing around. It gave a hair-raising growl and tapped at the glass. Afterward walking away, no doubt remembering what happened the first time it tried to break the glass.

This was going to be a long night...

* * *

**Alph's POV**

The next morning I tracked Brittany's signal into a forest area that I've named 'Garden of Hope'. Right now, finding her is my highest priority. But I must not forget the cosmic-drive key is missing… If we don't have that, the Drake won't be able to fly fast enough to get us back to Koppai. That would be very bad…

I also can't help but think that there's something more to our crash than we know… It felt almost as if some power from the planet's surface was manipulating our ship…

Putting everything aside, I set off to land in the Garden of Hope with the Pikmin Onion flying close by. Once we landed, I stepped outside into a green environment. Giant pink petals sailed in the air, the various plants were enormous, unlike anything I'd ever seen.

"Brittany's probably around here. Something is flashing on my map – maybe it's her! I'm running out of sustenance, I have to find her before it's too late!"

It looks like the Onion has followed me here. But where are the Pikmin?

"Oh that's right, the data file I found explains all of this."

I went under the ray of light the Onion was casting and I called out my red squad. They piled out and gathered around me. With my squad I traveled to where the signal was guiding me, the lush grass and pink petals rustled softly beneath my feet.

In an opening past a thick brush spot, we encountered a giant red creature! The eyes were stalks and it had white spots on its back. Fortunately it was asleep, and we crept right behind it.

A Pikmin had pulled on my hand and pointed at the creature.

I whispered, "Yes I see it… We're going to sneak past it."

This Pikmin had other ideas, it posed in a combating stance and began to whip its leaf all around and make punching motions. Is it saying what I think?

"You want us to attack it?"

The Pikmin nodded its head affirmatively. Along with the rest of the team.

I sighed, I didn't think these cute little creatures could be so violent!

I silently commanded my squad to attack, the creature had an unpleasant wake up call. When it shook my crew off its back, I called my group back and we hid in the bushes. Watching it look around and sniff for us, when it turned its back we attacked again and that's the ambush that killed the beast.

After it stopped moving, ten of the Pikmin carried it back to where the onion was. It wasn't too far away, so I followed them back, the dead creature got sucked into the Onion and it spit out seeds in return. I still can't believe how unforgiving nature is.

I plucked the sprouts and we continued on with a bigger squad. Eventually reaching a narrow pathway with a steep incline. After reaching the top I stopped to rest, and the lead Pikmin tugged on my arm again, this time making alarming noises.

"What's the matter?" I asked, I looked in the distance where it was pointing and I saw what I absolutely dreaded.

I could see Brittany in the area she got trapped in, and she was laying there! Not moving a muscle! My heart began to race, "Oh no Brittany!" I hastily got out my Koppad and dialed her, "Please tell me I'm not too late!"

My Koppad had connected but she wasn't picking up, it really freaked me out, "Pick up Brittany! Pick up! Please still be alive…!"

"Alph!?" She finally answered, "Sorry about that, I thought I'd take a little nap. So, you're close by?"

I sighed with relief, "Brittany you weren't moving at all. You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry…" she giggled, "You know me, I am a pretty sound sleeper. Even with these creatures creeping around...hah... But never mind that! When I fell here, I noticed what looks like a piece of fruit! I'm stuck here, so could you check it out for me?"

"All right Brittany. I'll come get you soon okay? Stay strong!" Then I hung up. I ran down the path hoping to find the fruit that Brittany was talking about.

Just then I came across the fruit, it was bright, sun-kissed, and had a coat of what looked like little seeds.

"Wow! It's even bigger than I thought it would be!" I exclaimed. If this giant thing really is a fruit than we hit the jackpot!

I took some of my Pikmin and threw them on the ledge, with six of them up there they lifted the massive red fruit and carried it down. The path from here back to the Drake was safe, so I left it up to them to return it to the Drake.

Meanwhile, I continued to follow Brittany's signal, on the way I passed by a cave but I didn't pay any mind to it. But what I did pay mind to, were these peculiar footprints in the ground. The footprint was... well it looked like a two toed creature, and there were these smaller footprints of the same kind following.

_What in the world could this footprint belong to?_

After some searching, I found Brittany on the other side of a glass wall, "Brittany!"

She approached the glass, "There you are Alph! I can't break through this wall."

I punched the glass several times, but I couldn't make a single crack on it! Jeez this was some tough crystal! My Pikmin team pounded it and not even they could get it to fall! While I waited to catch my breath, I notice that there were several of the footprints I had seen earlier. All around the glass wall, whatever it was it must have tried to eat Brittany. Now I was more determined than ever to get her out of there.

"So now what?" Brittany asked.

My mind crossed the small cave entrance that I passed by on the way here, "Brittany wait here. If I can't find anything I'll come back and try something else okay?"

"Be careful Alphie!"

I felt nervous leaving her there, but I had no other choice. I found the cave entrance that crossed my path earlier and went in. Hoping to find something to help…

Crystal glass decorated the cave, one of the crystal hunks stood out to me in particular. The one with the strange object embedded inside.

I walked closer to get a better look, "What is that thing?" The crystals reflections were so manipulating I couldn't even make a guess.

Out of nowhere this giant ghostly creature floated down from the ceiling, "What IS that!?"

The creature suddenly dropped a part of itself on the ground! The Pikmin and I dodged in the nick of time. In the midst of watching this eerie being I noticed something odd.

_Is there something inside that thing?_

With no time to lose, I threw my Pikmin at the thing and they managed to latch on and give a few hits. The creature wasted no time shaking its attackers off, then dropping itself again. This time it caught a few of my Pikmin and sucked them inside!

I threw the rest of my squad at the beast wanting to free my trapped squad members.

The might of the team became too much for this monster, it cried out in anguish and shot up into the dark ceiling, dropping everything it had.

What I saw was amazing, along with my trapped squad there were a different kind of living creature too! Well maybe not too different… They had similar features to the red ones, the stem and leaf on their heads, and the same foreign chatter. Except these little guys were a dark gray color and their bodies were in the shape of rocks!

"Are these creatures Pikmin too? They're giving me a funny look…"

After tumbling and rolling amongst each other, no doubt trying to collect their bearings after being trapped in that thing. They turned their attention to the crystal that had a strange object inside and started to throw themselves at it, giving the crystal some chips.

"What in the-?"

I whistled at them, and they approached me in the same friendly manner as the reds did, "These guys are friendly too!"

Whatever was in that crystal they wanted it, so I lifted one of them and threw it at the crystal, hitting it square in the center. That dealt some major damage.

"Wow these guys sure pack a punch!"

With more repeated throwings the tough crystal shattered into pieces and the mystery object inside revealed itself as an Onion. It floated and three yellow tentacles emerged acting as legs. Just like the first one did.

"So that's what that is, it's their Onion."

Going closer to get a better look, I noticed another data file at my feet.

_Its another data file._

I plugged it into my Koppad and it read, _Rock Pikmin are very hard... Like rocks._

Around that time the Drake sent me a message,

_Analyzing recovery!_

The Drake scanned the suspected fruit, afterward confirming that large quantities of Piktamin U were detected! That this was in fact, a seed-bearing fruit, making cultivation on Koppai possible. Also that the juice is safe for consumption.

Things were finally starting to look up after a bumpy start on our journey! Then again I don't know much about plants, "I'll ask Brittany to write reports about the fruit we recover. She is the botanist after all."

***THUMP***

That creature that shot up into the dark finally made its way back down to the ground. The Rock Pikmin lifted the carcass and produced Rock Pikmin seeds. I plucked the seed and ran off to free Brittany. Surely these sturdy Rock Pikmin would break through the glass wall keeping her prisoner!

* * *

**Brittany's POV**

I sat in my shelter drawing my finger through the dirt, waiting for Alph to come and rescue me. I sure hope that beast doesn't come around again while he's gone.

Also what were those red creatures he had with him? They sure were cute... Once I get out of here, I need his help getting that huge piece of fruit I can see hiding in the trees!

"Brittany!" Finally he came back. Not only that he had more of those adorable creatures with him! Except these were shaped like rocks!

I wanted to get a closer look, but Alph had picked up one of those rock creatures and was ready to chuck it into the wall!

"Stand back Brittany!" He flung those walking rocks repeatedly, finally making some dents and cracks on the tough glass! After all of that throwing, the glass finally shattered and I was free at last!

I ran out the gate more than glad to be out of there, "Whew! Does it feel good to be out of there! I'm sick of sleeping outside and I'm super hungry too."

"Good to see you Brittany." He replied, "It's a good thing I met these guys!"

"So um... What are those anyway?"

"Well according to the data files I found while exploring, they're called Pikmin?"

Pikmin? What an unusual name... "They are cute. But we don't have time for cuteness right now! Alphie look over there!" I pointed to the huge yellow fruit.

"Hm? What's..." Alph paused seeing the fruit, "Wow!"

"Let's work together and get it Alphie! Throw me over to that ledge!"

Alph picked me up and hurled me on the ledge, to my surprise he managed to throw me far enough to land me completely on the ledge. Why is it a surprise? Because he's smaller than I am.

"Okay throw me some Pikmin!"

After he threw six of them to me, I tossed them up in the trees where the fruit was. More surprise, They actually lifted the massive fruit.

_Wow... these little guys sure are strong when they work together like this."_

"They'll carry it back to the Drake for us." Alph told me, "We have a bit more time before the sun goes down, let's see if there's more fruit nearby."

While we kept an eye out for more fruit, Alph taught me about the Pikmin, "I found this data file in the area I landed in. The Pikmin live in a small little ship called an 'Onion'."

"A small ship?"

"Yes, when I took off of the planet's surface last night, they lifted off with me."

"I don't blame them, the planet's surface at night is scary. Believe me I know. Luckily they couldn't get to me, so being trapped had a plus there."

"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore." Alph assured, "When night comes, you'll be off the surface with me."

I replied with a small giggle, "I still wonder who left behind that data file."

"Well It couldn't have been the Captain. Which makes me wonder if someone else is here."

"Could be... hey look! Another fruit!"

On a ledge just a Pikmin toss away, a red fruit covered in seeds sat there waiting for us to pick it up. We threw some Pikmin up on the ledge and they carried it away. We followed them back to the Drake upon noticing the sun was about to set.

Alph sighed heavily, "Well Brittany, I've got some bad news."

"What is it Alph?"

"Well... The cosmic-drive key... its gone."

I hesitated, taking in what he just told me, "It's gone!? But without that we can't leave!"

"I know... while we're looking for fruit, it's also crucial we find the cosmic-drive key."

"We should also find the Captain." I added nonchalantly.

"Right, good point."

We made it back to the Drake just as the sun was barely peeking over the horizon, after the Pikmin dropped the fruit off for the Drake to take it in, Alph commanded all of the Pikmin back to their Onions. We then boarded the Drake and prepared for liftoff.

I was so happy that I wouldn't have to spend other night on the planet's surface. I owe it all to Alph and his entourage of Pikmin...

"I'll ration out the juice." I volunteered, "No extra gulps for anyone!"

_Alph can make do with a slightly smaller portion..._

* * *

**Alph's POV**

_Back on board, we ran an analysis on the fruit we retrieved and found it suitable for Koppaite consumption. It looks like there's plenty more where that came from! Reuniting with Brittany, finding this fruit... It's still early, but things seem to be taking a turn for the better!_

"Alphie! Look!" Brittany was gazing out the ship's window.

"What is it Brittany?"

I noticed the two Pikmin Onions making circles around each other. It looked like they were engaged in a dance, until suddenly they morphed together!

I was sure amazed, "Whoa!"

"They joined together!"

"Now the Onion is much bigger, that is so cool!"

Our next objective, starts tomorrow. For now, we need to rest.


	3. Chapter 3: The Captain's Signal?

**Exploration Day 3  
Alph's POV**

"That was amazing how the Pikmin freed you like that Brittany!"

"Same here Alph. I'm glad they were around. After all they seem to be friendly and intelligent creatures. I hope they keep helping us like this!"

"You're right! We need to focus every drop of our energy on getting the Pikmin to help us gather fruit!" I announced hoping to sound inspiring.

"Well, we also need to find the cosmic-drive key. We won't be making it home without that."

I tried to refresh my speech again, "Right! Let's focus all of our energy on retrieving food and the key! I will think about absolutely nothing else!"

"Except for finding the Captain." Brittany corrected me again, "We need to rescue him wherever he is."

"…Right. So we got fruit, the key, and the captain! Am I forgetting anything else Brittany?"

"Um… No I think you got it this time."

Our computer suddenly beeped at us. The radar began directing our attention to a signal coming from the Garden of Hope. One thing's for sure, it's not Brittany this time.

"Huh? What's that signal coming from over there?" Brittany asked.

"I sincerely hope it's the captain! Let's hurry over there and find out!"

Brittany wasn't so enthusiastic, "…Yeah, I suppose we can pick him up."

We didn't know exactly what to expect, but we had to see what was going on. We headed off to the Garden of Hope and landed like I did the other day. We called out our Pikmin squad, and headed in the signal's direction.

Yesterday was a long enough day, but something was telling me that this day was going to be even longer. The signal was still quite a ways off.

"So Brittany, how was your career working out?"

"Things were going pretty well. I landed a job at Koppai Lawn and Service. Gives me a lot of opportunities to study and learn."

"Sounds great Brittany. I'm glad things are working out for you."

Brittany and I go way back, we met in a college English class and we've been close friends ever since. Respectively her major was in botany and mine in engineering. It was just our luck that we managed to get assigned to this mission together.

"Yeah, other than the food crisis." She replied, "What about you Alphie?"

"I'm working at Koppai Marketing & Services. Things were going pretty well until...well... we got into our little food predicament."

"Wow that's great Alphie! So... are we close to the signal yet?"

I took out the map, The source of the signal was still a fair distance away but we were quite a ways from the Drake now. Gosh I hope we can make it back before the sun goes down.

"We're getting closer. According to the map the signal is…" I paused to look around, "Right down this path." I directed to a narrow passage. Looking into the distance I noticed a large tree, perhaps the signal is there?

"Let's hurry." Brittany urged, "Something about this is making me nervous."

As we traversed down the route, I noticed that something was a bit off. Before we got to this point I was able to hear all sorts of wildlife. Chirping, buzzing, even small scampering.

Out here, nothing, except the eerie howl of the wind.

"Hey Alph! Come look at this!"

I noticed she had stopped, and was looking at something on the ground, "What's up?" when I saw what she was looking at, I recognized the object right away.

"Wha…? What's a data file doing all the way out here?"

She handed it to me, "Well what does it say?"

I inserted the file into my Koppad, this time instead of instructions and a picture. It was a journal entry.

_My search for treasure continues with no luck. But I can't fly back home to Hocotate without procuring a few priceless artifacts! I'm sensing something valuable up ahead. But I'm also sensing danger. So if someone is finds this… Please send word to my wife and children… That I didn't make it. I love them very much, and that I'm sorry to have left them this way._

- _Captain Olimar_

As if traveling down this noiseless path wasn't unnerving enough. Now we have more reason to be worried. We sat there in silence, the ghostly breeze hounding us again. As if on cue, an unknown creature repeated calling yelps, then faded into the environment.

The Pikmin started making chatter amongst themselves, perhaps thinking about the possible danger that could be ahead.

"Captain Olimar?" Brittany broke the silence.

I shrugged, "I can't say I heard of him."

"Another captain has been through here? He says he's from Hocotate…"

"Hocotate isn't too far from Koppai." I added, "I heard they will do anything to get their hands on valuable treasure."

"Maybe it's all the vegetables they eat that make them so treasure crazed."

"Could be. But we can't say for sure. All I know now is that we'd better be careful. Sounds like this Olimar fellow met his end up ahead. Poor guy…This Olimar fellow seems pretty devoted to his family."

"That's true, sad… but true."

We continued on, with more caution than before. When we finally reached the giant tree, we noticed something had hollowed the tree out, creating a large cave-like entrance. The roof of the entrance was spiked out, bearing a resemblance to sharp teeth…

Nonetheless we went inside, which was empty except for a few mushrooms. I grew more anxious than before...

"I've got a bad feeling about this Brittany…"

"Me too… What do you think hallowed this tree out?"

"I have no idea."

"Well whatever it was it must be really..."

I looked at her when she paused, she was looking above my head with sheer terror on her face. When I saw what she was looking at…

"Whoa!"

She finished her sentence, "Huge...!" before giving a terrified squeal.

My gosh it was the biggest bug I had ever seen… It screeched a deafening roar that scared the hair clean off our necks. That is of course if the Pikmin HAD hair on their necks.

"Run for it Brittany!"

We ran from the bug but it crawled its way along the walls, stopping in front of us!

It reared back, snapping its large pincers.

"Watch out! Here it comes!"

"Yikes!" Brittany yelled.

We fled out of the way of its grippers, but this creature had more than just power it had speed. It whiffed around and used its head to send me, Brittany, and our Pikmin flying in several directions.

_Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!_

I heard Brittany screaming from the other side of the ferocious beast. I used my whistle to gather some of the Pikmin, I first threw some Reds. The Reds struck at the bug constantly but they couldn't make a dent on it!

The creature shook its attackers off and disappeared.

Brittany ran to my side, "Alph! That monster has some kind of protective covering!"

"Looks like this is a job for the rock Pikmin!" I replied, "But where did it go?"

I scanned my eyes vigorously around the tree. It was a strange feeling, my heart was going a million miles per hour, yet time seemed to be standing still.

In the blink of an eye the monster dropped from the ceiling almost on top of us! I stumbled backwards from the shockwave, and found myself with my back against its closed pinchers.

I recoiled from the insect's nasty breath, it smacked its lips, and with its repulsive tongue proceeded to lick the edge of its slicers. I was right in its path! I hurried to escape the deathtrap ready to swipe me up and swallow me whole.

Out of nowhere the bug reared back on its tail! I was thrown on top a nearby mushroom.

"Take that you psycho pest!" I heard Brittany yell at the creature, with rock Pikmin behind her.

The beast fled to the roof again, on its way up I noticed that the armored bug was missing a piece of its cover.

"Alph! Its armor is fragile! Just throw the rock Pikmin at it!"

I rounded up a share of Pikmin and waited for the creature to attack again. This time it tried to sneak up behind but Brittany noticed it before it could attack, "There it is!" the monster promptly charged.

We waited until it got within throwing distance before bombarding the thing with Rock Pikmin. The beast growled and flailed as its protective armor cracked.

The monster recognized we found its weakness and began to panic. It fled in an unorganized manner, it was on the wall, then on the ground, then back on the wall again. All the while Brittany and I were tiring ourselves out trying to dodge the creature, at the same time keeping our Pikmin squad together.

Eventually the thing tired itself out and had to stop to rest.

_All right! Now's our chance!_

I readied the rock Pikmin and threw several square at its head, the crystal shattered, the pieces went flying everywhere.

The monster roared again, unlike the last time this roar sounded more panicked than monstrous. The creature began round two of running all over the place. This time we managed to keep ourselves together, taking cover in a small grove hidden among a pack of mushrooms.

I devised a plan, "All right Brittany, when that thing stops to rest. Let's pulverize it!"

"Good idea Alphie! Look! It stopped now's our chance!"

We dashed alongside the Pikmin, they hopped onto the creature's exposed head and pounded it senseless. It was too exhausted to shake its attackers off. In a last bit attempt it tried to flee to the ceiling.

I encouraged the Pikmin, "Come on! We've almost got it! Keep going!"

The power of the Pikmin proved too much, the beast delivered a croaking roar. A bulge appeared in its throat, it gaged and some kind of technology piece, and what looks like a huge piece of fruit slipped right out of its mouth. Yuck!

The creature took a tumble to the ground and flopped down on the floor, lifeless.

All went silent again, as if nothing had happened. I stared at the carcass for several seconds waiting for it to rear back again. But it never did. I don't know how, but we managed to kill that beast.

And what was that thing it spit up? I took out my map and our questions were answered.

"So this was giving off that signal..."

_So what does this mean for the Captain's whereabouts?_

"Alph! Check out this fruit!" Brittany called out.

My attention went to the large magenta fruit that the beast also upchucked. Its appearance reminded me of a comet shooting through space.

"Despite the fact that its been in that monster it smells delicious!"

I wasn't too sure about this fruit, "Well I guess if people don't get scared of it we could take it back."

Of course Brittany was going to take any edible matter back whether I liked it or not. Then again its not like we have much of a choice, Koppai is starving.

"I also want to take this thing back." I mentioned, referring to the signal-emitting object, "I think it might be of some use to us."

With the help of the Pikmin, we hauled our prizes out of that hollow tree. Going back down that creepy narrow path seemed a lot less intimidating now. The sky was going from blue to a bright orange, warning us to hurry.

* * *

**Brittany's POV**

We escaped death by the skins of our noses. Though it didn't hit me until now, when we were taking our findings back.

I've been observing the rock Pikmin, and it appears that they are capable of delivering quite a powerful blow when thrown directly at a target. Considering how dense and chunky and their bodies are, there legs are surprisingly slender. How they manage to support themselves is a mystery to me!

Alph came by me, "Hey Brittany? Are you doing all right?"

"I'm perfectly fine Alph. Just a little rattled."

"That sure was crazy. Now, I've scanned the area for any further signals. But I can't find anymore... I don't think the Captain is here."

"The Captain? Oh yeah. He almost slipped my mind."

I honestly don't like the Captain much, even though he's recognized as a hero on Koppai. Direct opposite of Alph, who truly looks up to him.

It was almost dark when we finally got back to the Drake, the Pikmin loaded all of our things into the Drake. Then we hurried into the Drake while the Pikmin retreated to their Onion before the night predators could get us.

Into low Orbit, Alph studied the foreign object.

"According to the Drake..." He said, "This is an ancient communication device used on this planet. It contains technology unknown to Koppai and is emitting a signal even now."

I was honestly confused, "So what's that going to do for us?"

"If I integrate this device into the Drake's communication system, I should be able to boost our signal's strength! All right! Looks like it's going to be an all nighter for me!"

_We recovered the communications device that was inside the massive insect. According to Alph, this device contains parts that may expand the Drake's communications range. I've never seen him so excited! He can't tear himself away from that thing! I'm more than happy to write today's report while Alph examines the device. He can be so diligent sometimes!_


	4. Chapter 4: Winter Misadventures

**Brittany's POV**

When I woke up the next morning, Alph was still at the computer. Did he get ANY sleep?

"All right that should do it!" He declared.

When scanning for signals, the computer rotated to an area covered in snow, quickly recognizing another signal.

"Brilliant, Alph!" I complemented him, "You expanded the Drake's receiver range!"

"Aww, thanks… They don't call me the keen engineer for nothing!"

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that, "Nobody calls you that."

He sighed, "I know… Well, the origin of the signal is unclear… Hopefully this time it's the captain! We should investigate this at once!"

"Good idea Alph! Let's do that! Do you think we'll find any more of those notes from that Hocotation?"

"It is possible." He nodded.

Something I found out from research had come to mind, "I wonder how Hocotatians would fare on this planet. They are vegetarians, you know."

"Vegetarians?" Alph questioned, "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"If you think it means that they don't eat meat, then… yes. Nasty as it sounds, it's true. Hocotate is well known for its Pikpik carrots. I tried them once… they were kind of gross." I shuddered at the memory.

Alph's eyes widened, "You? Ate vegetables? I can hardly believe it!"

"It was my duty as a botanist. But those carrots aren't really suited to the Koppaite palate."

"Right, I suppose so. Then again if we ate vegetables, maybe we wouldn't have to travel 279,000 light years to get food." Alph remarked, "More than anything, I'm surprised that there are Hocotations here."

"Well that planet does have a lot of people who make their living off of treasure hunting." I've done my research.

"So we came here looking for food, and they came here looking for treasure."

"Yeah, must be really nice huh? Let's get going and find out what that strange signal is."

"All right! Let's go!" Alph enthused. It crossed my mind that he probably didn't get much, if any, sleep last night, is he okay to pilot the Drake? Well he seems full of energy like usual. I'm sure he'll be fine, all we're doing is landing.

Once we were out of low orbit, I looked out the window, all I could see was snow. I couldn't see anything else, of all places the captain could possibly be it had to be in this harsh area.

***KABOOM***

"Eeeeek!" Without a chance to prepare I found myself falling fast through the dark snowy void… I didn't see where the Drake went but I had no time to think, after several frightening seconds of falling into nothingness, I was abruptly enveloped in pitch black darkness. That's when I finally landed in a bank of snow.

It took me a minute to recollect myself, "Ow! Ouch! My face… Alphie? Are you okay?"

Silence was my only answer, "Alphie? Are you okay…?" I looked up and saw a lot of dark. My only light was a glowing mushroom next to where I landed.

"Oh no… don't tell me we've been separated again!"

This was even worse than last time! Instead of an area outside I was in a cave, and there was nothing but darkness all around me! I started to really worry, how am I going to get out of here when my only source of light is a dimly lit mushroom!? Not only that, how can I be so sure there's not some monster in here!?

My body began to shiver. From the cold... or from fear... I don't know.

As impossible as it sounded I had to try to leave, as I climbed out of the heavy bank of snow I heard this strange noise in the distance.

It sounded like electricity popping, I glanced around the corner and noticed two sparkling figures dancing in the distance.

_What are those?_

After getting a closer look I realized those figures were two Pikmin! The body type was the same as the red Pikmin, but these have ears! Really large and cute ears in fact, and they lacked the noses red Pikmin have.

"What are these Pikmin doing?"

They were holding hands, one Pikmin had its arm inserted into an electric wire, and was transferring it to the other. Both were flickering from the electricity running through their little bodies.

I noticed an object lying near them, I recognized the object as a data file. I inserted the file into my Koppad, it explained to me what was going on here.

**_Yellow Pikmin can conduct electricity._**

I turned my attention to three Pikmin sprouts planted in the ground nearby. I plucked three of the same Pikmin out of the ground, and helped complete the circuit.

The twinkling electricity burst brightly as the stems on the five yellow Pikmin bloomed into beautiful flowers. An oversized florescent light bulb I couldn't see before shone brightly, illuminating the cave.

The light was like diamonds in my eyes, "So dazzling…"

Suddenly another bright light flashed behind me, it was the yellow Pikmin Onion becoming charged up and three legs wiggled out and hoisted the Onion.

I watched in amazement, "Wow… I guess they need light to live."

I felt so much better having these Pikmin by my side and being able to see. But I still had to get out of here somehow. I looked around and saw a lot of flowers that Alph told me Pikmin would use to reproduce, but no way out.

Another thing I noticed that could potentially break me out was a large metal ball that sat on the edge of a slippery slope. At the bottom of the slope there was a wall with a draft flowing in. If I could push it over somehow maybe I could break outside.

* * *

**Alph's POV**

We followed the Captain's signal to a desolate tundra.

After crashing into a rock ledge I felt a jolt and hastily recovered control of the ship, I landed in a flat little area to check around.

"Oh no what have I done!? Brittany are you okay?"

She wasn't answering me, "Brittany! Are you all right?" I jumped to my feet and searched all around the Drake, but she wasn't there. Next I hurried outside and ran around the area we landed in.

"Brittany where are you!? Brittany!"

She was nowhere to be found. My first thought was the auto-eject must have kicked in and flung her out...

I hardly got any sleep last night, I nodded off behind the wheel and caused us to crash. Now Brittany is… who knows where… Why did I have to fly the ship manually? Why couldn't I just set it to auto pilot?

I rounded up a squad of Pikmin and began searching, the snow was so dense it was hard to see off into the distance. Searching for her in these blizzard-like conditions won't be easy.

But I need to find her…

* * *

**Brittany's POV**

I now had twenty-five Yellow Pikmin on my team. While I was building up my squad with the posys I found, I had discovered another data file. This one explained...

_Yellow Pikmin can be thrown higher._

I readied my team at the metal sphere and they pushed their tiny arms with as much strength as they could, the ball worked its promise. It rolled down the ice and crashed open a massive hole into the wall.

All right now I can get outside! Just in time I was getting claustrophobic.

I slide down the ice with my Pikmin team following and entered into the light. By the time we reached outside the snowfall had calmed down quite a bit, my eyes blinked to the sunlight. I ran to the edge above the river and watched the other side.

There he was, I could see Alph looking all around with a team of Pikmin, and the SS Drake was behind him! Wait until he sees I discovered a new kind of Pikmin!

I called him on my Koppad, "Alph! I'm over here!"

…

"Brittany! Thank goodness you're okay!"

"I'm on the other side of the river! Can you see me?"

"I can see you now! Our first priority is to reunite. Let's try building a bridge!"

"Got it!"

I shivered from a chilly breeze, _This place is abosolutly freezing! If we don't get out soon we'll die of exposure… That is of course if we don't die from starvation first…_

I just happened to realize that my Pikmin weren't shivering a bit! How are they not cold? It's like 50 below out here! Okay maybe they are, but are good at hiding it? Or they could be used to it probably…

Whatever it is, I put it aside to focus on the task at hand.

First I need to find some pieces to build a bridge. Luckily there was a stack not too far from where I was. The Pikmin took the pieces and steadily built for the other side.

* * *

**Alph's POV**

I'm so glad that Brittany is safe… I never would've forgiven myself if my carelessness caused something to happen to her.

I had to find something to build a bridge with, and luckily we have the Pikmin's help. We got sent here to get fruit; I can't believe I assumed this would be a simple task. While we are getting fruit, were also going through one catastrophe after another. Not to mention we are yet to find Captain Charlie.

I came across some pieces that could be used to build bridges in a small area, guarded by a fiery slug. Literally this slug was on fire, setting small fires to the grounds they slither upon.

With a few red Pikmin they were pretty easy to take down. But we also had to be careful of the little embers it left. I commanded the Pikmin to carry the pieces to the bridge.

Despite the brutal environment we're in, Snowy days like this bring back memories of my childhood...

_-FLASHBACK-_

_"Hey guys." An elderly man woke up his thirteen grandsons._

_The children and teenagers woke up slowly, the second to youngest son; Seven year old Alph pulled his blankets up, "It's cold grandpa."_

_His grandfather chuckled, "Well that's what happens when it snows Alph. I came to tell you that none of you have school today. Because it snowed a lot, I heard it on the radio."_

_All of the children became enthusiastic; they all celebrated and applauded loudly at the same time, saving their grandfather the task of waking their only sister in the next room._

_"What's going on?" Twelve year old Haylee wondered._

_"Haylee! Haylee! It snowed a lot there's no school!" Alph excitingly told his sister._

_"What really!?" She joined in the cheerfulness, "Yay! I love snow!"_

_Everyone got dressed in winter clothes and the large family ran out into the snow, ready for a day of fun._

_Alph got a snowball and began packing it, he rolled the snowball bigger and bigger until it was taller than him, __"Hey everyone! Let's make the biggest snowball in the world!"_

_The siblings all gave a shout in approval and gathered around. Together, they pushed the snowball all around, getting bigger and bigger until it got so heavy it_ weighed too much for the children.

_Haylee strained, "It won't… budge…" _

_The youngest child, three year old Ray, kept on trying. He eventually tried so hard he sunk into the massive ball of snow._

_Everyone gasped._

_"It ate Ray!" Alph panicked._

_The oldest, seventeen year old Tom volunteered, "I'll rescue him!" Or at least that was his plan, before he could grab Ray's legs the snowball had moved away from him._

_And took a tumble down the hill!_

_Everyone screamed for Ray and started sprinting down the slope, making a forlorn attempt to catch the runaway snowball. Alph who was the furthest behind suddenly stumbled and he too, began rolling down. Tripping his brothers and sister into the process, the whole family quickly got caught into one humongous snowball._

_"AAAAAH!" Everyone screamed, the kids picked up speed as they kept on rolling, faster and faster until all they could see was blurres._

_Eventually a tree became their brakes, shattering the massive snowball into a flat bank with the kids scattered all over, dazed and shocked._

_-END OF FLASHBACK-_

My grandfather used that experience to teach me a valuable lesson, 'Being brave doesn't mean being careless'. Also, never push an oversized snowball near the edge of a hill.

My Pikmin returned to my side once they put all the pieces down. I looked for more using my radar, but I couldn't find anymore. Looks like the rest is up to Brittany!

In the meantime, I'll focus on getting the fruit that's way up on that ledge down...

**Brittany's POV**

I located another pile further down the river. From where I was standing I could look out and clearly see the Drake. Looks like Alphie finished his side of the bridge.

"All right guys!" I told my team, "Let's get these pieces and finish the bridge." Then I dismissed them, and off they carried the parts.

I focused my mind on the blustery weather, "Captain... wherever you are... you better be grateful when we find you..."

Captain Charlie and I have met before this mission, I first saw him as a customer at Koppai Lawn and Service. He became really smitten with me. He still is...

All of that aside, I watched the Pikmin carry pieces of the bridge back and forth. These cute little guys... they're trying so hard for us. I never would've been out of that cave if it weren't for them... Now they're trying to get me reunited with Alphie... If we ever get out of here alive with our mission successful, the Pikmin deserve some recognition.

They had the bridge completed after what seemed like too long... I quickly whistled my squad back to me and rushed across the completed bridges.

I found my way to the Drake's landing site, "I'm here Alphie!"

I was hoping to see him here but he was nowhere to be found. Of all the times to disappear... And I discovered a new type of Pikmin!

Around the bend I heard the sounds of Pikmin being thrown, and there he was. Throwing his team at something on the top of a high ledge. He was trying to get his team to bring down whatever was up there to no avail. The reason being he couldn't throw his Pikmin high enough.

I remembered the data file that explained that Yellow Pikmin can be thrown higher than any other kinds of Pikmin. I approached him with my team following close behind.

He kicked some snow in the air, "Darn it! I can't get my Pikmin up there high enough!"

"Why don't you try throwing a yellow Pikmin?" I recommended.

"Okay, sure." He said without realizing I was there at first, he grabbed a yellow Pikmin and prepared to toss it. Then he froze, and whirled around facing me.

I gave him an impish smile, "Didja miss me?"

He let go of the Pikmin he had a hold of and flung himself into my arms, "Brittany! Thank goodness you're all right!"

I felt the heat on my cheeks, "Ditto."

Alph took my hands and explained, "I'm so sorry Brittany... I didn't realize how tired I was, I didn't think I would collide with anything because all we were doing was landing."

I squeezed his hands, "It's okay Alphie, at least we're both safe now."

As we looked into each others eyes, the undesirable environment all around us seemed to fade away... I found myself in the midst of some sweet dream... The Pikmin started running freely and happily all around us... Soft, peaceful music began to sing all around me...

_Hikko nukarete, anata dake ni tsuite iku_  
_ Kyou mo hakobu, tatakau, fueru, soshite taberareru_

_ Hotta kasarete, mata atte, nagerarete_  
_ Demo watashitachi anata ni shitagai tsukushimasu _

_ Sorosoro asonjaou kana _  
_ Sotto dekakete miyoukanante_  
_ Aa aa ano sora ni_  
_ Koi to ka, shinagara _

Out of nowhere I snapped out of my dreamy trance. I noticed that our Pikmin squad was still into the experience, dancing and singing in sync all around us in what I realized to be the shape of a heart.

My face flushed into a deep crimson color, "Oh for crying out..." I grabbed my whistled and blew into it so much that I think I broke the sound barrier. The Pikmin were all so startled they I swear they jumped at least five feet into the air, then they all got behind me and Alph like they normally did.

Alph tried cover his ears but he couldn't do that because of his helmet, once all the Pikmin were behind us again he shouted, "Geez Brittany what did you do that for!?"

"We need to focus on the mission!" I shouted back, still blushing, "Come on let's get that fruit and find the Captain!"

As fast as I could I tossed the Yellows up to the unknown object on the ledge, to our pleasant surprise they brought back down a small piece of pink fruit. They took it back to the Drake as usual. Alph was still confused, did he not realize what had just happened!? Oh my gosh he is so clueless sometimes!

Next objective! Find the Captain!

* * *

**Author's Note: Good grief this was a long chapter! Putting that aside, what I wanted to talk about was that scene at the end. I know what you guys are probably thinking, that was SO CHEESY! But I just couldn't resist it was so cute! Haha!**

**The main thing I wanted to explain was the Japanese words, those are lyrics to the famous Pikmin song called, "Ai no Uta" by Strawberry Flower. (Translated title: Song of Love). I added it for effect. **

**I hope you had fun! Until next time, bye!**


	5. Chapter 5: Cupid's Grenade

**Brittany's POV**

That night I examined the fruit that had we had picked up when I reunited with Alph yesterday. Unfortunately, it had taken us nearly the whole day to reunite. I'd also like to note that it had gotten darker much quicker in this environment than it did the other I've been in.

Oh well... I tasted the small pink fruit.

Such divine sweetness! One bite and I fell head over heels for this sweet, entirely delicious fruit.

"What a find! The people of Koppai are sure to be blown away by this weapon of mass nutrition." I noted.

Alph nodded, "The fruit on this planet sure is delicious isn't it?"

"Definitely, not to mention they really do wonders for the skin."

"That must be because they have more Piktamin U than most of the fruits native to Koppai."

I observed Alph's face closer on that observation, "I see that! Eating all of this great fruit has pretty much cleared up that weird blotchiness you had!"

"It sure did!" He paused, "Wait… what?"

I giggled, "Never mind. Let's just gather as much as we can to bring back home with us. For everyone's sake. Everyone back on Koppai is in for a real treat! Lots of them, actually!"

"I can't wait to be hailed as a hero bearing nutrient-packed seeds of healthy, race-saving deliciousness!" Alph enthused.

In light of the… awkward situation I found myself in before we harvested this fruit, and the sweetness it bears, I decided to name this charming fruit 'Cupid's Grenade'. This has by far been the smallest fruit we have gathered thus far. As it only produced half a bottle of juice.

Still… it's quite delicious, and worth a taste.

* * *

**Author's note: Hiya everyone this is SkyhighAngel! This was just a quick little fun chapter I wrote to hopefully quell my writer's block... I do plan on making more chapters like this in the future.**

**Stay flying!**


	6. Chapter 6: To the Rescue!

_-FLASHBACK-_

_The brave and well-regarded Captain Charlie was out running errands. On his way back home he decided to stop at Koppai Lawn and Service to buy a plant for his pet duck, Elizabeth. _

_He picked out some plants that would be suitable for his backyard pond. _

_As he waited for the cashier to check out the plants, someone had caught his eye. It was a young woman with captivating pink hair, studying the plants diligently and taking down notes._

_He stealthily asked the cashier as he watched her, "Who's that?"_

_"Hm?" The peppy cashier turned her head where he was looking for a split second, "Oh! The pink haired girl with the glasses?"_

_The Captain nodded the affirmative._

_"Her name is Brittany, she's one of our scientists."_

_"Is that so?" Charlie answered, "Wow she's really… pretty."_

_Just then, the beautiful woman he was infatuated with suddenly looked at him curiously. His heart skipped a beat, but he kept his composure. He gave her a smile, complete with a wink. Then he paid for the plants and walked out._

_Brittany watched the revered Captain Charlie leave, a bit surprised that he acknowledged her in such a way._

_-END OF FLASHBACK-_

* * *

**Exploration Day 5  
Alph's POV**

The next morning we were quite happy despite the fact we haven't found the Captain yet.

"That sure was a close call yesterday huh?" I mentioned while scoping out our plan for the day.

"Indeed." Brittany agreed, "I never would have made it if it weren't for those Yellow Pikmin. That's not something I'll ever forget. You know, if our mission is a success. We should have a party to thank all of the little Pikmin!"

"We should! After all these guys sure are helpful! Let's get going and find the Captain."

Brittany went to her landing position, "Don't crash into anything this time!"

I chuckled, "Don't worry, I got sleep this time. I won't."

We soared our way back into the Distant Tundra. Luckily for us, the weather was much calmer than it was when we came here the first time, so vision was no problem and we landed without incident.

After calling out a team of Pikmin, we set off to follow the Captain's signal.

Brittany said something that had startled me, "We lost someone very dear to us: our esteemed Captain Charlie."

My heart sunk, "Brittany don't say that! I know he's still alive!"

"Calm down I was just joking Alphie."

I felt a little mad, I can't believe she would joke about something like that, "Right, well I was joking too. So you can stop joking, and never joke like that again."

The Pikmin made anxious noises.

"I'm sorry Alph." She apologized nervously.

I sighed, "Just don't say things like that."

"Okay… Hey look at that!"

"Hm? What?" I perked up.

"Look at that up there!" She pointed at something a few ledges up.

I saw what looked like a face fixed in the snow made out of twigs, leafs, and dead branches. The face looked a tad like the Captain…

What I noticed next was covered in snow, burrowed under the sharp edge, "Hey look…"

"Hm?"

"Check it out Brittany." I approached it, plucked it out of the frozen dust, and brushed it off, "It's a data file."

I read it in my Koppad,

**_We've found a snow sculpture in this frozen tundra. It looks like the face of a middle-aged man. One that I know all too well. The more I look at it, the more I think it looks like the president of Hocotate Freight. Especially that nose…_**

- **_Captain Olimar_**

"It's another note from that Hocotation." Brittany cited.

I nodded, "I guess the strange figure up there reminds him of someone he knows too. Come on, let's keep moving."

The signal led us to the inside of a cave, which was really dark. I could faintly make out something round raised in the air by two thick cords. In the distance I could see the plugs sparking.

Brittany took the yellow Pikmin, "Alph, check this out."

She walked off into the darkness, _What is she doing?_

I could hear her tossing the Pikmin, next thing I know, the Pikmin are lighting up like Christmas lights! Once they connected the two wires with their bodies a colossal light bulb blinded me.

What neither of us expected, these large buds across an opening in the ground suddenly bloomed large and fluffy.

"Wow that's so cool!" I caught up with Brittany by walking on the puffballs.

"I forgot to tell you yesterday. I found a data file in the cave I fell in, it said that Yellow Pikmin can conduct electricity." Brittany clarified.

I was amazed, "That's really something."

We continued on through another exit, finding ourselves in the snow again. This is where more started to stand out to us. We had come across a split in the paths, we could go left or right.

We looked to the left and saw a broken path through some mushrooms.

"It looks like someone has been through here Brittany."

Brittany had started going right, "Hey Alph look at this!"

She ran ahead leaving me and the crew to catch up to her.

She stopped next to a tiny body of water, "Look it's another data file!"

"What does it say?" I said with impatience.

In her Koppad the data file read,

**_It looks like someone took a tumble here in the fresh snow! Perhaps someone else is stranded here? If anyone is reading this, be very careful up ahead. There are hostile life forms up ahead! My colleague and I managed to escape by the skins of our noses, but I've detected something off about that monster…_**

- **_Captain Olimar_**

It was another warning from the Hocotation named Olimar, again the Pikmin made conversation.

"Something off?" Brittany questioned.

"Could be…" I just happened to glance up, "Hey Brittany look!"

I ran to a patch of snow that had the impression someone had fallen, "Do you suppose this is where the Captain crash-landed? We could be getting close! Let's go!"

Without waiting for Brittany's reply I took off to where we saw the path cleared through the mushrooms, with Brittany and the Pikmin steadily falling behind.

"Come on Alph slow down!" Brittany implored.

I stopped edgily, "The signal is just down the road! If what the Hocotation said is true the Captain could possibly be in big trouble! We have to hurry!"

When she caught up we both continued, we hurried across a log that was distantly above a rushing river, leading into a cave. There I could hear the cold wail of the wind.

The inside of the cave was dark, except for two glowing mushrooms in our sight. We stopped within the bright light.

I looked at my radar, "It looks like this is where the signal's source is coming from. The Captain is in here somewhere."

"Alph… I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Me too… it's always unnerving when it's dark."

She suddenly jumped.

"What's wrong Brittany?"

"I saw something moving in the dark…" She stared intently upward.

I looked into the darkness, "What are you talking about Brittany I-" I was cut off by a loud flapping noise, "What was that?"

"I don't know Alph, it sounds huge though…"

I noticed the same circuits that we encountered in that cave, on top of the ledge I could see a light bulb.

"Let's get some light in here." One by one I tossed the yellow Pikmin on the small jutting edge where the cords were broken. It took ten Pikmin to reconnect the flow of electricity.

The light bulb popped and shone brightly, a painful roar frightened us from behind. We turned around and noticed the scariest and colossal winged bug I have ever laid eyes on. It plopped on the ground and roared again releasing these odd purple spores. We all ran under the bloomed fluffy mushrooms out of its sight when it decided to inelegantly flap its way out of the light.

"What WAS that!?"

Brittany glanced at her Koppad, "What is going on here? The Captain's signal is coming from that creature!"

"Well that's definitely not the Captain." I argued.

Brittany gave a small throat scoff, "Not unless he's REALLY let himself go."

"Let's follow it and find out!"

We chased after that moth monster into the dark, glowing mushrooms popping all around us as we move around.

Because the flapping was reverberating all around us, we had difficultly telling where the monster was.

Brittany walked in front of me, "Where is that thing?" Just as she finished talking the monster glowed out of the darkness behind her and opened its gigantic mouth.

"Watch out!" I tackled her and we both went tumbling down a slope. The Pikmin had scattered all around hoping to avoid getting sucked into the beast's mouth.

We skidded to a stop under two glowing mushrooms.

Brittany was astounded, "Alph what just happened!?" she cried out under me.

My attention went to the panicking Pikmin, I pulled Brittany to her feet, "Come on let's round up the Pikmin before the monster comes back!"

"Okay!"

I ran about like there was no tomorrow all around sounding my whistle, rounding up all the Pikmin I could get. The flap and whoosh of the monster's wings made me more anxious.

"Alphie!" I heard Brittany from the dark.

I followed her voice under three glowing toadstools, she was on her Koppad.

"Check it out! I found another data file."

Sure enough, she was checking out the information,

**_The Vehemoth Phosbat hates light! Take shelter in brightly lit areas!_**

"That's what that thing is called? Vehemoth Phosbat?" I wondered.

"Whatever it's called." Brittany put her Koppad away, "It's still freaky ugly."

She's right, it really is. Where did this thing come from anyway? No matter, we had to kill it somehow because the Captain's signal was coming from it!

"Well if this thing hates light." I pondered, "We need to find some kind of light source to weaken it."

Despite that we were taking cover in light, the Vehemoth Phosbat was hovering around. Just waiting for us to make a run for it.

"Alphie, look!" Brittany pointed up at the celling, "Is that a light bulb?"

Very faintly I could see the outline and barely noticeable reflection of a light bulb. I strained my eyes following the cord to a nearby ledge. Now what would be the best course of action?

"Okay Brittany, here's the plan: I'll distract the monster, while you toss the yellow Pikmin onto the ledge."

Brittany paused and appeared worried, prompting me to give further encouragement, "Brittany we have to try. We have to rescue the Captain."

"Hmm… Okay, Just be careful Alph."

I ran in the line of danger looking all around for that sneaky monster, meanwhile Brittany took off for the ledge and began chucking the Pikmin to the wires one by one as fast as she could. It crossed my mind that the wires were so far apart who knows if we had enough yellows to connect.

I heard the Pikmin making that noise when they get thrown, for me it just couldn't be fast enough. As planned the monster was hovering around me trying to get in a spot to where it could swallow me and my Pikmin up. When I heard the Pikmin noises stop from Brittany, I got even more anxious.

"Brittany!" I called to her, "Have you connected the circuits?"

"Alph! I threw all of the yellows we have up to the wires! But I can't see if they've fully connected!"

I feared that we may not have enough to light the giant bulb, I didn't have much time to think about it. I had suddenly tripped and toppled down another slope.

"Whoa!"

When I came to a stop I was faced with the horror of that monstrous beast appearing from the shadows. It opened its gigantic mouth and I frantically scuttled to my feet and out of the way of the appearing vortex.

But I wasn't fast enough. Me, and several Pikmin were lifted into the air and we began spinning while gradually picking up speed.

I just so happened to look up and noticed a flickering spark, it only appeared for a second.

All of a sudden I was blinded by a bright flash, the light bulb had lit and the creature cried out in pain. Sending us all back down into the dirt.

The Vehemoth Phosbat was flopping all over the ground like a fish out of water.

"Alphie!" Brittany was running for me with the yellows.

"Brittany! Now's our chance!" I then ordered the squad to, "ATTACK!"

The Pikmin pounced all over this beast, latching on and smacking repeatedly . The rock Pikmin can't latch on, so Brittany and I ran all over grabbing the rock Pikmin and throwing them at the moth monster.

The monster roared again and sent all of the Pikmin flying before clumsily taking off into the air, releasing these nasty purple spores in the process. It flapped again and again until it bumped into the blaring light bulb, sparks went flying and a strange object collapsed from the roof.

It shivered from the electricity and fell down again. It struggled and squirmed for a moment before finally falling still.

I could hear Brittany breathing, "Did… did we beat it? Is it dead?"

"I think so… I hope so." I looked at my Koppad, "Hey look, the signal is still coming from that monster."

I crept closer to the body, signaling Brittany to stay back. Once I got within a foot of the corpse it started to wiggle. I rose my gaurd, perhaps it wasn't dead yet!

The mouth opened up and… out came our Captain! I couldn't believe it there he was! Inside the belly of this monster the whole time! Geez with all that fighting, being in there must have been quite a wild ride. To a bigger surprise he looked completely fine! He stepped over the jaws and landed on the dirt with a proud stance.

"Captain!" I instinctually said.

He was calm, "Ah, good to see you Alph! I'm unharmed, but I must apologize for my stench. The inside of a beast's belly is no flower garden. Hahaha!"

As he laughed, I shook my head and sighed,

_Sheesh._

"Until I have a chance to clean up, just breathe through your mouths."

He started looking behind me, "Now, where is…"

About that time Brittany had approached us, "Captain? Were you inside that mon-"

"Brittany!" He cut her off, "Thank goodness your safe!"

"Um…" I tried to say something. But he had walked away from me to her.

"Don't worry Brittany." He says, "Now that I, Captain Charlie am here, there's nothing to fea-"

I could see her cheeks growing rosy. It was now her turn to interrupt him, "Captain! Stay focused! The cosmic-drive key is gone!"

He paused, "What did you just say!? But without that we're stranded here! Koppai will starve!" He thought for a moment, "Wait… That reminds me! I found a data file in the belly of that monster. Check it out! I thought it was junk data, but see for yourselves!"

In his Koppad the file read,

**_I found a key today. It says something about a cosmic drive on it. I doubt it's worth much, but it'll be a nice souvenir for my kids if I ever get back to Hocotate. Who knows? It could be a key to a chest of ultimate riches! So my search for treasure continues… I'll stop at nothing to find that hidden grove of gold! I know it's out there somewhere!_**

- **_Captain Olimar_**

Charlie continued, "This Olimar fellow filed this report only recently. That key he's talking about must be OUR cosmic-drive key! He must have landed here shortly before we did. We must find him or we'll be stranded here forever."

"Right Captain!" I responded.

* * *

**Charlie's POV**

Just as I expected, my team had come to my rescue! They even brought along a backup of those little guys that helped me before I got ate!

Anyway, it was great to be finally free from that belly and to be able to see my crew again! Especially Brittany, I felt much better just by seeing her lovely face…

With me back in action I took control of the squad. First things first we seized the dark red fruit that was near the dead monster. Next was the body, the Pikmin (as I learned they were called), lifted it and we carried our findings back to base.

Luckily we managed to find a shortcut and we happily took this route back. So convenient too, the sun was just barley touching the horizon.

"Come on crew! Let's hurry it up the sun's about to set! We need to take off into low orbit!"

The red fruit was put in the Drake for analyzing, and the Vehemoth Phosbat body was put in the Onion (The Pikmin ship) where Pikmin seeds of multiple colors were sparkled out of the Onion and planted themselves into the snow.

We speedily plucked the sprouted Pikmin out of the ground and sent them into their so-called Onion. Then we boarded the Drake and launched into low orbit.

* * *

**Alph's POV**

"Captain! We're so relieved that you're all right!"

He cleared his throat, "I have you two, my faithful crew, to thank for that."

"I really thought that ghost moth was you." Brittany couldn't resist pointing that out, "You have very similar faces, did you know that?"

"Brittany, when I was trapped in the belly of that beast, the only face I thought of was yo-"

I was NOT going to let him complete that sentence, "Right! Now that we've got the Captain back, our next priority should be finding the cosmic drive key."

"And food!" Brittany mentioned, "Don't forget food!"

Captain Charlie hesitated, "Um… yes, of course."

**_Thanks to the Yellow Pikmin, we were able to defeat the Vehemoth Phosbat! And, much to everyone's surprise, we found our captain inside the beast! Wow! Can you believe our luck? He found a data file from that Hocotation named Olimar… who we now know, has our cosmic-drive key! But where in the world is this Olimar? Where?! We need that__ key!_**

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh my gosh for this chapter I had struggled with writer's block like you would NOT BELIEVE! UUUGGHHH! But I'm quite happy with this chapter :D Haha now that Captain Charlie (or DJ Rubber Ducky with that jam of his, haha!) is back in the picture there will be more comical scenes! Tee hee! I can already tell I'm gonna be so mean to Brittany! XD haha!**

**So anyway, Fav, review, follow, whichever. Or all if you want :D and look forward to future chapters! **

**As always, Stay Flying!**


	7. Chapter 7: Heroine's Tear

**Brittany's POV**

I tasted the fruit we recovered from the cave, "This has to be my favorite fruit so far!" It was delicious! So sweet in such an elegant way!

Alph was getting a rash, "Well I'm glad YOU'RE enjoying it!" He stormed out of the room.

"Eh, the taste doesn't suit me." The Captain shrugged.

Figures the captain doesn't admire a superior taste like this... and since poor Alphie can't touch it without getting a rash, that means I'm left to enjoy it myself. Back at Koppai, we ought to name this fruit 'Brittany'.

In the meantime, I'll season it with my tears...


	8. Chapter 8: Sand Attack!

**Alph's POV**

The next morning in the Drake, our map had detected yet another signal. This time it was coming from the Tropical wilds where I first landed.

"What's that signal coming from over there?" Brittany wondered.

Charlie contemplated, "Could it be Olimar? That person from Hocotate?"

"It's not coming from one of us, or the Drake…" I added.

Charlie declared, "Then it must be Captain Olimar! Let's track the signal to its source!"

Down we went to explore the Tropical Wilds further, when we landed and stepped out into the humid weather, Charlie stated, "It seems the signal originated from this area."

"This is where I crash landed." I pointed out, "Is it possible that Olimar was here with our cosmic-drive key the entire time?"

"We'll have plenty of time for nostalgia later. Let's track down that signal! And not pass up any fruit we see on the way!" Brittany urged.

We took out a team of 100 Pikmin and followed the signal, the sand making crunching noises beneath our feet when we walked.

* * *

"Olimar I don't feel too good about this…"

The brave Captain was not deterred, "Come on Louie! I bet there are riches up there beyond our imagination! Why, when we first landed I saw something glistening gold up there! I bet if we can get it we'll be rich!"

"I'm sorry but I really think we should stay down here. I have a really bad feeling about this and I REALLY don't think we should go."

Olimar started to get mad, "Louie, I agreed to let you come with me so you could help me out. You're getting so paranoid about everything we come across!"

"Because this planet has gotten more dangerous since our last visit!" Louie asserted, "Did you not see that monster that wrecked our ship back there!?"

"How could I not!?"

"Well how about we focus on escaping before we focus on the treasure!"

"I told you Louie! I'll take care of it later!"

Their squad of Pikmin felt the building tension and made nervous noises.

"That's it, I'm sorry but you are getting out of control over this!"

"If you were in my shoes you'd understand! I am the one that had crashed landed on this planet! I am the one whose S.S. Dolphin was busted to pieces on impact! I had 30 days to repair it and escape before my life support failed!"

"I do understand but there are boundaries that you have to-"

Olimar interrupted him, "AAAND when I got back! The first news I get is the company is in debt and they take the Dolphin away! The same one I fought so hard to fix! Danger has never stopped us before and I won't let it happen this time! I'll do what I have to do to get my ship back!"

"I get what you're saying, but I'm really tired of this! If you're so determined to get whatever is up there! Then go ahead but count me out!" Louie began walking away.

"You should've stayed back at Hocotate like I said! If I needed someone to criticize everything I did I would've brought the President instead!" Olimar shouted to his back.

Louie looked over his shoulder, "Yeah I should've, but I wanted to help you! Funny on how you mention that! I never would've come along if I knew you were start acting like him!"

Louie really hit a nerve.

"GO BACK TO THE SHIP!"

"I'M ALREADY DOING THAT!"

Louie stormed off into the woods, the Pikmin watched him disappear into the brush with worried looks on their faces.

Olimar turned around and tried to shove his hands in his face but his helmet prevented that. No matter, he hid his face and let out a very frustrated and angry groan.

In a desert field in the distance, Louie was doing the same thing.

* * *

We managed to follow the signal to a narrow pathway of sand, with tropical plants growing above us.

"We're getting close to the source of the signal. Let's keep going!" Charlie encouraged.

Eventually we found ourselves into a big open area of sand, and what we found was not Olimar, but a strange mechanical object buried halfway in the sand!

"So this is what was emitting that signal." Brittany affirmed.

"I bet if I we got it back to the Drake for analysis, I could expand the communicator range!" I informed.

Charlie nodded, "In that case, let's take this back!" He commanded the Pikmin to dig it up.

So we waited for the Pikmin to dig up the mechanical goliath, but then without warning. The ground sank and took the machine completely underground with it!

Charlie let out a, "Whoa!"

We whistled for the Pikmin. Then this ginormous slug shot up out the ground scattering all of us, it had no eyes but it had sharp teeth! As we ran for safe ground it roared at our retreating backs, then burrowed its way underground.

"Another monster!" Charlie exclaimed.

We watched the bulges of sand move around where the creature was, after a few seconds it stopped. Then the sand poked high in the air and the slug came out on top.

"Now's our chance! Attack!" Charlie commanded.

We ran for the monster, ready to give it everything we got. Then it abruptly shot rocks out of its mouth!

"Oh no watch out!" I yelled.

We sprinted side to side avoiding the launching rocks, when a rock managed to land on part of our Pikmin crew, they weren't crushed. But they got replanted into the ground! All of us were so fixtated on getting the Pikmin uprooted that we didn't notice that the worm had buried itself again and was headed right toward us. Until the ground fell and began to sink like a whirlpool.

"Hurry get out of here the ground is sinking!" Charlie shouted. We fought our way out of the sinking hole. Despite the fact we didn't have all the Pikmin plucked.

Just as I reached the top, I heard Brittany scream behind me, "Alphie!" I turned around and gasped, Brittany was losing the struggle and sinking fast toward the creature's open mouth. She let out a panicked squeal. Behind her were the rooted Pikmin falling down the creature's throat.

I quickly but cautiously ran back into the pit and grabbed her hand, helping her out of the pit. The ground eventually returned to normal and the creature did its runaround again.

"Brittany are you all right?" Charlie asked.

"I'm okay." She answered, "But we lost some of the Pikmin…"

He took a determined stance, "Let's show this creature whose boss!" Right at that time the creature showed itself again.

"When all else fails charge!" He commanded. Luckily it was much closer than it was before and we managed to get a few hits onto it. It launched itself out of the ground, causing us to fly in different directions. We rounded up quickly and pounced in it again, getting some more hits before shaking us off and burrowing again.

About that time, I looked up in the sky. I don't know how we didn't notice this before but the sun was setting!

Charlie was ready to assault again, "All right crew! Let's-!"

"Captain!"

He looked at me, "What is it Alph?"

"Shouldn't we get going? The sun's about to set."

Brittany then, looked up at the sky, "Oh wow! Where does the time go?"

Charlie didn't look too worried, "So?"

"Captain if we don't get off the surface come nightfall, no doubt the nocturnal predators of the night will come for us."

Brittany added, "So many predators become active at night…" She shivered, "Believe me I know…"

Charlie's eyes widened, "Well why didn't you say so before!? Come on let's get out of here!"

We ditched the battle site and raced through the wilderness, it was literally a race against the clock. I prayed for the sun to shine for us just a little bit longer. I could already hear the predators roaring and growling.

I encouraged the Pikmin behind us, "Hurry guys!"

We finally made it back when the sun only had a very tiny bit part left, rushed by the roars from the creatures of the night we got the Pikmin into their Onion and blasted off quickly before the night prowlers could catch up. It was when we got to low orbit when we finally relaxed.

* * *

**Louie's POV**

I had walked pretty far, I could tell because I was in a different environment and I was really hungry and tired... and all alone...

The leaves were a mixture of red, orange, and yellow. Figures the most appetizing colors on the color wheel... Nonetheless I kept on walking, I didn't know where I was at or where would I go next after today, and at that point I didn't care... It crossed my mind to call Olimar just to check on him... but he's probably still mad at me.

I reached a giant tree that I had noticed earlier in the distance. I headed up the spiral branch hoping to escape the nocturnal predators that would be showing up soon. I didn't think that there was anything up there to be afraid of, except my growing hunger...

Olimar does have a right to be this insane about treasure now that I think about it... I said I do understand but... I guess no one can really understand without actually being in that kind of situation... I shouldn't have said the things I said...

I do wonder though... are there others here? Throughout our exploration we have noticed signs of other explorers here. I hope they're friendly... whoever they are... The top of the giant tree was just a big hallowed out opening, perfect or so I thought. As I crept toward the center I heard a brief buzzing noise behind me. I turned around quickly and saw nothing.

My eyes glanced around quickly, then it buzzed behind me again. I turned around again and this time it didn't try to run. I couldn't see what it was because it was so dark. But it did not seem happy with my presence. All of a sudden a million different tiny insects surrounded it! The larger figure reared back and made a charge for me.

I tried to run but I didn't stand a chance, "NOOOO-!"

Everything went black...

* * *

**Alph's POV**

Captain Charlie sighed, "Thanks to that colossal slug, our mission to retrieve the object ended in failure..."

"We'll have to show that thing whose boss!" I tried to encourage him.

Brittany nodded, "We'll have to be sure to get it tomorrow."

He got his enthusiasm back, "You're right crew! Let's kill us some giant slug!"

Something I had wondered about for some time suddenly came to mind, "Um... Quick question..." Everyone's attention turned to me.

"That rubber ducky that's been floating around... Is that yours Brittany?"

She replied, "What? No! Are you joking?"

"That's mine thank you very much." Charlie answered, "My rubber ducky goes everywhere with me! I can't sleep a wink without this little guy!"

I never knew the Captain had such a soft side, "So, it's a security ducky, Captain?"

Brittany giggled, "I guess under that tough exterior, the captain's just a big softie!"

"Heh... not all the time naturally." Charlie added, "But lemme tell you Brittany, if for whatever reason you need big strong arms to warm you up just-"

"OKAY WE SHOULD GET TO SLEEP NOW!" I yelled out without thinking, only to feel embarrassed when they stared at me, "Um... we have a big day tomorrow we should get some rest."

"You're right Alphie!" Brittany agreed, "I'll go to bed now. Good night you two!" She skipped off to her room. Meanwhile I hurried into my room and locked the door. I was afraid the Captain was going to be mad for interrupting him.

This is going to be a long adventure...

* * *

**Author's Note: Haha! So what do you guys and girls think? Isn't it hilarious when Alph gets jealous? XD So this chapter was a tad different, but please, Fav, review, follow. Whichever or all :p **

**Stay Flying!**


	9. Chapter 9: Counter Attack!

**Olimar's POV**

I woke up feeling groggy and hazy… I didn't know what had hit me, whatever it was it hit me hard. I was aching all over and all of the Pikmin I had were gone… My first attempt to stand didn't work out, I couldn't even feel my legs. As my vision cleared, I began to notice some glittering gold figure standing over me… I realized then, that this was the gold thing I saw when we landed here. It was very worried about me, kind of like a mother hen.

I tried to find my communicator but it was nowhere to be found. Louie was right to feel afraid to come up here. I shouldn't have yelled at him… I hope he's all right wherever he is… My mind suddenly shocked, Louie! I have to find Louie! I stood up and left, thinking that this gold life-form was just going to let me go… that wasn't going to happen… It flood its way in front of me and blocked the exit. I tried to walk past it but instead it tackled me and…

I blacked out…

**Charlie's POV**

The next morning we loaded out ourselves and the Pikmin and took off for the battle site. Hopefully we managed to get some damage on the monster that didn't heal overnight, otherwise we'll be repeating this madness all over again.

Luckily we were making better time than we were yesterday. Most likely because we are now slightly familiar with the path.

When we finally reached the battlefield the creature was already waiting for us. Much to our surprise, once it saw us it did its little digging around underground dance.

"Now! Let's us commence Operation: Defeat Giant Worm Monster!"

"Let's go!" Alph replied.

Once the creature stuck its head out, we made a mad dash and pounced on it like a whack-a-mole. Seconds later it flew outta the ground like it did yesterday. I hurriedly used my whistle to gather my scattered team and we attacked viciously. It flung itself into the air and slammed into the ground sending sand particles flying.

It's belly inflated and the bulge traveled up its body until a giant green thing upchucked out of its mouth and broke into pieces. Next came a giant machine that looked like some form of computer. Then the beast fell still and never took another breath.

"Victory!" I celebrated.

"We did it!" Alph said right after me.

Brittany was fixated on the giant green thing with red insides, "Whoooaa! Hey guys come here! Come check it this fruit it's so amazing!"

Me and Alph saw it for ourselves. She was right! This fruit is colossal!

"Even divided up it's so big!" Alph exclaimed.

I commanded the Pikmin to pick up the pieces, "Well come on let's gather it up!" Alph did have a point, the fruit was all over the place! Big pieces, medium pieces, small pieces, tiny pieces. Some took more or less Pikmin to carry. No matter, we made sure we got _aaaaalllllll_ of it. Also we were sure not to leave the signal-emitting machine behind. So, we headed back to the Drake.

"Congratulations crew! We've succeeded!"

* * *

**Author's note: Yeah... this is all I can manage right now... I wanted to get past this battle and I'm just not feeling too well right now :/ Hopefully I'll get better... **

**As always, stay flying.**


	10. Chapter 10: Crimson Banquet

**Brittany's POV**

_How is this thing even real? This is almost too good to be true!_ Were my thoughts on the giant Christmas colored fruit we recovered from that goliath slug.

"It's huge, super juicy, and filled with tons of seeds to take home and cultivate! What an incredible find!"

"You said it Brittany!" Alph agreed, "I can't wait until everyone sees this one!"

"I know right! Say I was thinking about how great that environment was. I wonder if I could like, build a home here!" That way I could be surrounded by out-of-this-world delicious fruit 24/7!"

Captain Charlie replies, "That sounds like a great idea Britt! Say, if you're thinking about getting a house here, perhaps you and I could-"

"Did I mention that this fruit is super delicious?" Alph interrupted, "I can't wait to find more!"

"We'll find a lot!" I assured him, "Then we'll bring it all back home!"

"Then again, we have to find the cosmic-drive key first. Since that signal wasn't Olimar I have a feeling we'll be tracking down another signal very soon."

That reminded me, "Speaking of signal, did you get that machine analyzed?"

"Yes, it's a communication device once used on this planet. Its signal strength is very powerful, and contains technology unknown to Koppai."

I nodded, "Oh, I see, so…"

"So if I can incorporate some of this device's technology into the Drake's communication system, I may be able to boost our signal strength even more!"

"Does that mean you'll be up all night again?" I nonchalantly asked.

"Yup! It sure does!"

"Well, I'll leave you to that then! I'm going to bed. I know who's NOT going to pilot the Drake tomorrow."

He chuckled lightly as I hurried into my room and activated the lock. Why the rush? Because the Captain was standing there looking like he wanted to finish what he was going to say. And I wasn't going to have any of it.

Alphie…

* * *

**Charlie's POV**

We managed to retrieve the communications device that the enourmous creature swallowed. Alph is working hard on incorporating parts of it into the Drake's communications system. Well, it seems as if the greedy creatures on this planet will swallow just about anything... including us, if we're not careful.

Now I wonder how I can get Brittany to notice me...

* * *

**Author's note: Yeah I'm feeling better today. :) So I decided to put this little short chapter in. SPEAKING of banquets, I hope you all have a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving! :D Most likely I will not be uploading for the rest of this week because I have to get ready for the holidays and finals (bleh) and stuff like that. **

**In the meantime, Stay Flying!**


	11. Chapter 11: Twilight River

**Exploration Day 7  
Alph's POV**

Thanks to the technology we found, we were able to expand the Drake's scanning range even further. Oh our radar we tracked down another signal, in a different place.

"Is it another signal?" Charlie inquired, "We thought the last signal was coming from Olimar."

"We have to follow it. It's our only to his location." I mentioned, "And that of our cosmic-drive key!"

Brittany sighed, "I feel like we're on a wild-goose chase. Or worse, what if this Olimar isn't what he seems?"

"Never fear Brittany!"

Here we go again…

"I shall protect-!"

"All right everybody let's get going!"

Off we headed for this area.

We landed into an autumn-like enviorment with several giant leaves falling from the enormous trees.

"Captain! The signal we followed here is definitely coming from somewhere nearby!"

"You know, I have a good feeling about this! A captain can always sniff out when another captain is nearby."

Brittany and I became a little weirded out…

"That's sort of… gross." Brittany commented, "Well, whatever helps us find our cosmic-drive key. If nothing else, we can find more fruit here!"

We called out our squad of Pikmin and went down a leaf-covered pathway. When we reached a peak of the route Brittany suddenly cried out, "Omigosh!"

We all turned around, "What's the matter Brittany?" I asked.

"Is something wrong?" Charlie asked right after me.

"Look over there!" She pointed into the distance. We noticed a Pikmin Onion that was trapped in a web!

"Let's get over there and cut it free!"

Charlie jumped in front of the group, "This is a job for Captain Charlie! Let's go!" He ran ahead. Leaving both me and Brittany shaking our heads and sighing, before following.

We crossed a shallow part of the river where it was, the web had a pretty good hold on the poor onion.

"So how are we going to do this?" I questioned.

"We need to cut this web somehow." When he reached out to touch it, this big bug suddenly hissed at us! We all jumped back in surprise, then it crawled around the onion and curled back up.

Brittany was the first to react, she grabbed the rock Pikmin, "Let the onion go you stupid bug!" With on rock Pikmin chucked she managed to nail the bug right on its body, the bug made a disgusting hiss sound and fell to the ground lifeless. It's a good thing bugs are so fragile.

Unexpectedly the webs fell down with the bug, saving us the trouble of cutting the Onion free.

Like the others did before, three yellow legs jutted out of the airborne onion, supporting it. Then a single pink sprout popped from the flowery coating.

"A new Pikmin?" I wondered, then I approached and plucked it.

To our ample and absolute surprise, this Pikmin didn't land on its feet it hovered in the air! This Pikmin had wings! It was a pink, flying Pikmin! To make it even more insect-like it had beady bug eyes. Complete with magenta strips across its body.

It cheered a high-pitched cheer and danced in the air.

"Oh how adorable!" Brittany squealed, "Look at its little wings! I've never seen a flying Pikmin before!"

"None of us has Brittany." I mentioned, "A flying Pikmin sure will be useful."

With the help of two other Pikmin, the winged Pikmin hauled the bug corpse to the pink onion. Spurting out more pink seeds.

Just as we finished plucking all of the sprouts, Charlie's Koppad strangely started to ring… Sure enough he looked at it, and it was telling him that he was receiving a call!

"What in the-? Someone's contacting us!" He announced to us.

We all gathered around, "Who could it be?" I asked, as all of us attentively watched the screen.

When we finally got an image, we saw a man in a blue spacesuit. He was exhausted, evidenced by him trying to catch his breath.

"Please…. S.S. Dolphin…." He pleaded through a broken transmission, "My name… I…. Captain Olimar….. I'm on…. Big tree…. Something's….. savage… monster!... Please…. I…. Help!..." He suddenly had a look of terror on his face from something we couldn't see, "It's back…! Oh no!... NOOOO-!"

His communication device was knocked out of his grip, then the call broke off… We stood there silently, absorbing what had just happened.

I broke the silence, "Wait a minute! Was that Captain Olimar!?

Charlie shrugged, "I don't know Alph. That transmission was so broken up I could barely understand what he was saying."

"He sounds like he's in trouble!" Brittany stated, "We need to hurry and find him!"

"I've tracked the signal upstream." Charlie directed.

"We need to rescue him fast." I warned, "If something happens to him, we could lose our cosmic-drive key for good."

Charlie continued looking at his map, then he took a deep breath and shook his head.

"What is it Captain?" Brittany asked.

"I tracked the location of the signal. It's a long walk away. It'll be dark before we'll reach where he's at, the best thing to do is to set out first thing tomorrow morning, hopefully make a quick rescue, then hurry back."

Me and Brittany looked at each other and sighed.

Brittany agreed disappointingly, "O-okay… but we have to find him as soon as possible!"

"Don't worry." Charlie reassured, "I promise we'll find him before anything bad happens."

For the rest of the day we used the winged Pikmin's flight ability to quickly and easily get fruit back to the Drake. When the sun went down we did like we usually did, boarded the Drake and took off.

* * *

**Brittany's POV**

Later that night I was recollecting all what I had observed from the winged Pikmin. I could easily say I was more fascinated by them than any other species of Pikmin we've encountered, even more so than the rock Pikmin. They were the smallest and weakest kind of Pikmin, but on the bright side they can fly!

"Those winged Pikmin are so cute!"

Alph nodded, "They're pink, that's for sure."

The Captain chuckled, "Ha! You bear a striking resemblance to them Brittany!"

Wow… epic fail… If there's anything the Captain is bad at, it's flattering a girl.

"Huh? What is that supposed to mean?" I questioned.

Immediately the Captain shrunk, "uh…"

"If you were trying to make a compliment, you didn't exactly do it right."

Alph interjected, "I think what he's trying to say that you're beautiful and resilient Britz. Like flowers in the desert."

Hearing Alph say that… I felt a blush trying to make its way on my face, "Thanks Alph…" I bashfully replied.

_Did he just call me Britz?_

That sweet smile he gave me made my cheeks burn even hotter.

I tried to act natural and turned back to my computer pretending to analyze the fruit we found today further. In a faint reflection on the screen I could see the Captain smirking… he looked at Alph and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Alph looked confused… Almost instinctively my eyes squeezed shut and my fists clenched. I swear I was going to kill the Captain… If I didn't die from embarrassment first…

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm back! :D Not only that, the final I was so worried about didn't turn out so bad after all! SO SUPER YAY! :DDDDD**

**Anyway I hope you enjoyed! **

**Stay flying! :DDDD**


	12. Chapter 12: Slapstick Crescent

**Brittany's POV**

One of the fruits we managed to recover was this yellow fruit with a firm outside and a soft, gooey inside. It look like a crescent moon, both in shape and in color.

Oh my gosh, this is delicious! So sweet and comforting... I can imagine a little kid eating just gobs of these things. They'll have to be careful around the inedible peel, though. It's extremely slippery and could be a safety hazard.

Alph went absolutely crazy over this one, "Wow, this is so yummy!"

"Be careful of the outer peel Alphie." I cautioned, "The peel seems quite slippery."

I drifted off to my thoughts, _But how slippery, I wonder? Slippery enough to dispatch a person?" _

A mischievous smile crept onto my face,

_How about a fully-grown man with a moustache? I must find out...in the interests of science._

I picked a slice of the peel and subtly flicked it near where he was and waited while covertly watching. Unfortunately, Alph decided to walk near where the peel was.

"Alphie wait!" I was too late, his foot landed bull's-eye right on the peel and his foot jerked into the air and he fell flat on his stomach.

I ran to his side, "Are you all right?"

He sat up slowly, "Ow! What happened?"

Just then, Charlie came into the room, "Hey what's going-?" He then slipped on the same peel that Alph had slipped on!

"Yikes!"

He fell flat on his back, "Ouch! What in blazes!?"

I slapped my hands onto my face trying to contain the building laugh.

"Good night." I managed to squeak out before running into my room and activating the lock. I fell into my bed and had a good laugh into my pillow.

So I determined, that the peels are slippery. VERY much so. Tee hee hee!


	13. Chapter 13: Coming to the Rescue!

**Exploration Day 8  
Alph's POV**

The next morning on the Drake we first briefed about Olimar.

"So that mysterious Hocotation that's been leaving all of those data files contacted us directly." Charlie recapped.

"Somehow he got through on the emergency channel." I added.

"He said he was on top of a big tree." Brittany brought up, "I suggest we hurry."

"All right let's go!" Charlie dismissed.

Wasting no time we summoned our Pikmin and followed the signal. When we reached a river, Charlie looked at his Koppad.

"The signal is coming from upstream!" He mentioned.

We followed the path up the river as far as we could, but then we came to a dead in the footpath.

"It's a dead-end, what are we going to do now?" Brittany asked.

Charlie stated, "All we need to do is find another path!"

"Where?" Brittany looked all around, "I don't see another option!"

I looked to the river, and saw these enormous lily pads floating carelessly on the water. They appeared to be close enough for us to hop on and catch a ride.

"Come on!" I ran to the river's edge. Everyone followed hastily.

Charlie questioned, "Alph what are you doing?"

"I think we can catch a ride on one of these lily pads! It can carry us up the river!"

Brittany clapped her hands together, "Oh great idea Alphie!"

Captain Charlie was impressed too, but he wasn't so enthusiastic, "Yeah, great idea." I heard him mumble.

Dismissing the Captains distaste we waited for the next lily pad to float by, when one came along we readied ourselves.

_Oh, I hope this works!_

All of us jumped onto the lily pad at the same time, and to my amazement it didn't sink! It didn't even buckle to all of us hopping on it at once!

* * *

**Brittany's POV**

As we sailed down the river like a carefree summer day. I took this opportunity to study the winged Pikmin closer. From what I've seen so far, they appear to be weaker in combat that all the other types of Pikmin. They're also small and fast, allowing them to keep up with us at a steady pace.

I just so happened to look up at that time, and Alph crossed my line of sight. I can't really explain anything right now, but I'm feeling a bit different.

What is going on? My heart is starting to pound… Wait a minute… is this…? Could this be?

"Brittany!"

I snapped out of it, "Yes!?"

It was Alph, "We're almost here."

We had reached the same spot of land as the giant tree that Olimar said he was at. From there on I figured this would be a snap. I mean, all we had to do was climb that spiraling branch path up to the top and we'd have Olimar right?

We'll soon find out...

* * *

**Charlie's POV**

At last we had made it to the towering tree, now all we had to do was climb! Which wasn't too complicated because it was just a branched out path leading up the tree in spirals.

"Let's hurry to the top team!"

"All right!" Alph and Brittany simultaneously replied.

Speaking of my team, I've noticed that Brittany has been acting very odd recently. She's usually so perky, lately she's been exhibiting spacey and aloof behavior from time to time. One minute I'd see her, she looks like she normally does. Next minute her face would be flushed. The only time I've heard of a female acting this way if she's...

Wait a minute... Has Brittany become enamored? Ah yes, all the evidence points to that. She's become enchanted by the heart. I tried my best to keep the growing grin on my face to myself. Luckily I was in the front of the group being the Captain so no one could notice.

In my mind I patted myself on the back.

_Well Charlie you've done it. I knew if I cajoled her enough she would fall for me. _

I felt my heart began to bubble with excitement,

_This is splendid! Truly splendid! Okay here's the deal, I continue with the subtle flirts for a little while longer. Then by the time we get back, she'll be completely smitten! At that time I'll ask her out! Perfect plan!_

By the time I was done formulating my plan we were almost there. Time to focus on the task at hand!

"We're nearly at the top team! Let's keep going!" I encouraged.

When we reached the end of the path and rounded the corner, we had located Captain Olimar! He was down, next objective we had to get him back to the Drake!

"Quick team! To his aid!" I commanded. Just as I said that these little bugs buzzed right past us, they circled around Olimar before whisking him away. The situation quickly escalated when more little buzzers showed up.

From out of the sky, a giant yellow bug! A bigger version of the little ones! It summoned its underlings and gave a insect roar.

"Yikes!" Brittany cried out.

Alph was also freaked out, "We have to rescue Olimar!"

I kept my composure, "Quick team! Commence Operation: Rescue Olimar!"

This was definitely going to be much trickier than what we've previously battled. For one, this creature was airborne. This was a job for the winged Pikmin!

"All right!" I gathered the wing Pikmin, "Go team go!" I commanded them to attack.

No good, they were blown back in an instant. Those little buzzers are protecting their queen! Suddenly the ugly queen had strummed the strings in her pincers and her minions had taken a tornado-like form.

At the monster's signal, the little buggers started firing at us like shooters.

"Watch out!" I shouted out.

We ran like crazy avoiding the charging bugs. Just when all the bugs had been shot out they circled around us creating a cyclone! We all were lifted into the air and tossed around recklessly. Alph, Brittany, Me, our Pikmin all flying around like a tornado.

"Holy geez!"

I heard Alph yell out, "Aaaaaaah!"

Suddenly we had stopped, no longer in that whirlwind. When my head stopped spinning, I looked down and realized I was floating! I saw all of our Pikmin scattered around the ground. I turned my head behind my and saw I was being held hostage by one of the underlings. Searching around for my crew I saw Brittany and Alph in the same situation, they were fighting to break free.

"Get off!" Brittany screamed, "Let go!"

I felt more strength brewing. I threw my arms backwards over my head and threw my captor down to the ground, then I landed on it when I fell.

I quickly gathered the Winged Pikmin and commanded them to attack the colony, they proved to be quite strong in aerial attack! Alph and Brittany were both freed within seconds. Eventually the queen had no bodyguards left!

"Now's our chance! Go winged Pikmin attack!" I commanded an attack, the winged Pikmin swarmed the boss and brought her down fast. That prompted the entire Pikmin team to swarm the monster and attack her full power!

The insect monster shot up into the air like a champagne cork, she flew around clumsily, her mouth strings snapped in half and she fell to the ground lifeless. Strangely, all of her workers fell dead too. Quite odd, but convenient.

I ran over to my teammates, "Brittany! Are you all right?"

She stood slowly, "Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Alph?"

He was a few feet away, she ran to him, "Alphie? Are you okay?"

"Ugh... I'm okay." He got up, "How's everyone doing? Wait a minute! Where's Olimar?"

As if on cue, Olimar dropped from the sky. As well as a piece of fruit! But we were more concerned about Olimar, He was just laying there, not moving at all. The Pikmin too, were just as worried as we were. If not more so.

"He doesn't look too good!" I pointed out, "We have to get him back to the Drake ASAP!"

We commanded the Pikmin to carry him, which they were more than eager too. We had to hurry back because it was getting dark.

* * *

**Alph's POV**

Somehow we got back to the Drake without being eaten. It had gotten dark before we had reached the Drake, since we had someone else in tow we were lucky nothing spotted us.

With the Pikmin safe in their Onions we quickly boarded the Drake.

_Analyzing recovered life form!_ The Drake referred to Olimar, _Life support system has been activated. Life form is in stasis._

I shook my head, "I hope he wakes up soon..."

**Later that night...**

Brittany was concerned, "Hey guys, Olimar doesn't seem to be waking up."

"I guess we shouldn't be surprised." I shrugged, "Who knows what that terrible creature did to him."

"Nevertheless, we need to get him to tell us where our cosmic-drive key is." Charlie mentioned, "Wait a minute! I recognize that space suit! This is the type that puts you into a deep sleep if you experience any big surprises." He shook his head, "I missed an entire surprise birthday party once because of those suits."

I replied, "We'll need our cosmic-drive key to get home! What are we suppose to do now?"

Olimar interrupted by snoring very loudly.

I groaned, "Ugh... he just had to be the type that snores..."

"Unfortunately Alph." Charlie explained, "There's nothing we can do until he wakes up on his own."

Brittany stepped forward, "Here, let me try slapping him."

Charlie caught her hand, "No, no! Trust me Britt, we can't do anything once that suit kicks in. We just need to keep an eye on him. For now, let's just call it a night."

_We finally managed to rescue Captain Olimar, but he wasn't moving at all. It seems his suit has put him in a state of deep sleep, and all we can do is wait for him to wake up. I have a bad feeling about this... there's no sign of our cosmic-drive key..._

_- Alph_

* * *

**Author's Note: And with that! I would like to wish all of you the best of days these upcoming Holidays! :D I might not be writing as often because of these special times, but please anticipate what's in store nonetheless! **

**Of course as always, Stay Flying! **

**:D**


	14. Chapter 14: Runaway Madness!

_My vision slowly returned to me as I awoke, once my eyesight stopped being so blurry I noticed something was amiss. I was aboard an unfamiliar ship! How in the world did I get here!? _

_Oh no… We're in the sky! And by the time on my watch it's almost morning! Olimar! Where is Olimar! I silently, but in a panic, fled all around the ship being careful not to wake my captors up. He wasn't here! _

_So, as quietly as possible I took out my communicator, but the sound on silent, and called Olimar._

_"Olimar!" I whispered, "Olimar! Can you hear me!? Please pick up! I'm aboard a strange ship and I don't know what they're planning to do with me! Olimar!"_

_But he never answered, and I feared the worst._

_"Oh no he must be in serious trouble! Oh man this is all my fault I never should've… Oh never mind that! I have to get back and help him!"_

_I ran for the controls, "Okay, nobody has woken up yet. All I have to do is land and find him!"_

_Because I was in a hurry, I didn't exactly land where I last saw him. I just landed where I could in that green forest area. _

_My next thought was to grab whatever I could from the ship that I could need, I raided their fridge._

_"Oh thank goodness food!" _

_I grabbed it all, and just in time, the sun had risen. The lavender glow of dawn was still present but I didn't care. Once I had landed this thing my behind was out of that ship faster than the speed of light._

_"Don't worry Olimar I'm coming to save you!" _

_I kept on running with all of my power, eventually I came upon a giant cement wall but I was NOT about to stop for anything._

_I tossed all of the juice into the air, "LOUIE'S POWER PUNCH!" with my fists clenched I charged full power and I just drove my fist into that stone wall like there was nothing left. It shattered with a mighty BANG! I caught the juice coming down and continued on running._

* * *

**Charlie's POV**

I was jolted out of my sleep by the sound of an explosion, I scurried to the main room and looked around. Alph and Brittany darted out of their rooms briefly after.

"What happened?" Alph asked hastily.

"I-I don't know." I told him, "There was an explosion and…" I made the chilling realization that we were no longer in the air. I rushed outside and noticed that we were back in the Garden of Hope.

"Where did this ground come from!? Why aren't we in the air!?"

Alph came out beside me, "Captain! This is bad! Olimar's gone missing! You're Rubber Ducky has gone AWOL too!"

I almost fell backwards, "What did you just say!?"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!" A loud scream screeched from the Drake. Brittany came out soon afterward and BOY did she look irate.

Alph was shaken, "B-Brittany!? Why did you-!?"

She was too furious to even hear him, "That greedy villainous PIG! When I get my hands on him I will rip him to shreds!"

I was tentative to say anything to her, as charged up as she was but I had to know what was wrong, "Britt! What is going on?"

"HE'S RUN OFF WITH ALL OF OUR FOOD!"

Alph was more shook, "What!? You can't be serious!"

She said nothing and got the Pikmin team out of their Onion, then prepared to storm off, "Come on you two! Let's go after him! His footprints are going this way hurry!"

Me and Alph were both trembling, but we nodded and rushed to follow her.

* * *

**Alph's POV**

I've known Brittany since college, but I have NEVER seen her so mad before! But hey, she had the right to be. This guy ran off with all of our food! I swear she was leaving fire in her own tracks.

Even the Pikmin were a bit scared of her, they were keeping some distance between them and her. I kept close to the group to make sure that nothing would attack them, even though most of the creatures on this planet are nocturnal I didn't want to take any chances. I did see that Brittany was getting a bit ahead of the group, as much as I wanted to keep her in my sight, trying to stop her when she's this mad would be impossible. Not to mention risky.

As I feared, I eventually lost sight of her. I was worried, but I could track her signal on my Koppad.

Geez look how far away she is! When she gets mad she almost becomes a tornado. Moving rapidly and pushing everything in her path aside with hardly any effort.

Unfortunately I had to stop so I could catch my breath… At least Charlie and the Pikmin could catch up.

"Alph where is Brittany?" Charlie demanded to know.

I checked out my Koppad, "She's gone way out there Captain… I hope she's okay…" I just happened to glance over to a small body of water and noticed something peculiar.

"Hey Captain… look."

There was a large flower sticking out of the water, it had a very familiar appearance. It struck my mind that it could very well be another Pikmin Onion!

"Is that another Onion?"

"Could be Alph." Charlie replied, "It looks like its stuck!"

There was a vine growing out of the top, I sent the winged Pikmin for it and they tugged on the vine rhythmically. With persistence, the winged Pikmin managed to pluck it out of the ground. Sure enough it was another Onion, this one was blue.

Like the others it produced a single sprout, I treaded into the shallow water and plucked the Pikmin. This one was blue and looking closely it had a mouth! Or were those gills?

"It's another type of Pikmin!" I exclaimed, "This one seems comfortable in the water."

Charlie dismissed the Pikmin and came into the water for a closer look, "That appears to be so! Hm? Hey look there's a data file here!"

The data file read,

_Blue Pikmin can survive in water_

"That's going to be useful!" I mentioned, "Now we have five types of Pikmin with different kinds of abilities!"

"Let's grow some more on the double!" Charlie commanded, "We still need to catch up with Brittany!"

"I sure hope she's not in any trouble..." I worried.

* * *

**Brittany's POV**

All of my senses kicked into overdrive and I was out for blood. Nobody steals food from me and gets away with it! NOBODY! I swear when I find this guy… Alph and Charlie better hold me back from SEROUSLY HURTING HIM!

Using my Koppad I followed Olimar's signal, not caring at the time that I was leaving Alph, Charlie, and all of the Pikmin behind.

The signal guided me to a narrow densely wooded path, which in turn led me to large open mud hole. What in the world is this place? The ground is literally nothing but mud! Except for this piece of land with a crystal sticking out.

I tromped out into the muddy ground, to my surprise it was quite solid. Very suitable for a decent footpath. Studying my Koppad I realized that I was in the area where Olimar had run off too. Something was definitely amiss, I was turning all around and I didn't see him.

"Captain Olimar!" I called out hoping to get a reply, but I got nothing. Instead I noticed something in the bushes.

"Huh?" I walked closer to get a better look, "Is that a ship?"

Sure enough it was. A very unusual looking ship as a matter of fact, it was colored magenta and white and it had a speaker near the top.

Near the vessel I found yet another data file, covered in mud and gunk. I cleaned it off and read it into my Koppad.

_Curse that Hocotate ship. It may once have been a top-of-the-line vessel. But now it's just an insult to my piloting. I can't wait to pay off that debt and get back in my beloved S.S. Dolphin. But that means I need to find something really valuable before I return home…_

- _Captain Olimar_

"Poor guy…" I pondered, "But I will not let him off the hook for stealing our food!"

I continued walking around until my legs got tired, I took a seat on the piece of land sitting in the center of the mud hole.

"Where are Alph and the Captain?" I asked myself, then I shook my head, "Oh they'll find me soon. They can track my signal from my Koppad. I better just wait right here."

I sat and listened to the wind and rain while I waited anxiously for my teammates. I sighed and whispered, "I don't know how this adventure is going to turn out... But if we're successful... Alph... will you notice how I feel?"

I was so absorbed in my thoughts I didn't pay any attention to the shifting ground...

"I've never felt this way before but... I think it's safe to say that I... huh?"

The ground suddenly lifted up below me! The solid crystal behind my started to crack! When it busted completely, out came a disgusting eyeball! Which did not hesitate to hone in on me!

I screamed as loud as I could...

* * *

**Author's Note: Cliffhanger! Dun dun DUUUUN! XD **

**I would like to take this time to note that I now have a DeviantART account! :D Yay!**

**Right now I have a bunch of random art on there, but hopefully I can get some gaming art drawn and posted too ^.^**

**Search WildForestFairy and you should get the account. :)**

**Enjo****y! :D**


	15. Chapter 15: Lucky Break

**Charlie's POV**

When I heard that stomach-turning scream, my wits sharpened, my adrenaline started pumping.

"Captain did you hear that!? That was Brittany!" Alph freaked.

"Of course I heard it! She must be in trouble! Come on let's get moving!"

With my Koppad in hand, we hastily followed Brittany's signal. When we got to this dense path, we heard these horrid sounds. Whatever it was it sounded huge… considering what we've been going through on PNF-404… oh no not another monster…

We burst out of the brush into an open area, not even in my scariest nightmares could I picture what I saw. A giant walking land mass with an eyeball jutting out of a crystal!? I saw Brittany running our way, to my relief she looked all right.

"What in the blazes!? Brittany are you okay!?"

In between pants she replied, "I'm fine! I tracked Olimar's signal to here when all of a sudden that piece of land turned into a monster!"

"Uh Captain?" Alph nervously said, "Olimar's signal is following that beast..."

I was hoping I had misheard him, "Come again?"

"I said, Olimar's signal is following that beast. I think it's safe to say that Olimar got ate by that thing..."

I shook my head, "Great...

* * *

**Alph's POV**

"So what's the plan Captain?" I asked.

He thought for a moment, "Hmm... The best thing we can do right now is find it's weakness. Now where in the would could it be?"

Brittany continued staring at the crystal, "Captain! There's something pulsating inside that crystal! That could be it's heart!"

Both of us checked it out ourselves, luckily the monster was calm enough for us to get a good look. Sure enough there was something pumping inside.

"Excellent Brittany!" Charlie commented, "That's the plan! We'll crack what's left of that crystal and attack it! If we're lucky that's it's weak point!"

"How are we going to do this?" I questioned.

"Okay, the three of us are going to approach it from different angles. Alph, you go to the right with the blue Pikmin, Brittany, you go to the left with the yellow Pikmin, and I'll approach it head-on with all the others. When I give the signal via Koppad, both of you will approach it in sync. Hopefully this will confuse the creature, then I'll approach it head-on and start bombarding the crystal with the rock Pikmin! Then when the crystal breaks, we rush the weak point all at once!"

Brittany was anxious, "I'm worried, what if that's not it's weak point?"

"We'll figure something else out Brittany don't you worry!" Charlie assumed, "You can always count on me remember!"

I added my own comforting words, "It's worth a shot Brittany, and we have to get to Olimar."

She nodded, "Right! When we do get him back! I have a few words for him for stealing our juice!" She was all fired up now.

"All right team! Let's get into position!" Charlie commenced.

I snuck my way to position through the bushes with Brittany doing the same. Once I was in my spot I nervously awaited for Charlie's orders.

This is going to be risky...

* * *

**Brittany's POV**

I waited in my place for the Captain's signal, gosh it's a miracle itself that we've made it this far with all that we've encountered here. But now I'm hoping for another miracle that we can all get through this and make it home safe...

"Alph! Brittany! Move now!" Charlie gave us the command via Koppad, confidently but fearful at the same time I ran out toward the beast. I could see Alph on the opposite side.

The monster's eye glaced at me, then at Alph, and back and forth. It seemed hostile, but not quite sure what to make of us at the same time...

Charlie ran forward while it was distracted and pelted the crystal with rock Pikmin, the shocked monster gave a roar, sending us all back into the brush. Now the beast was agitated and stomping all around making giant mud puddles.

Seconds later, the fractured crystal began to crackle, in the blink of an eye the whole thing shattered apart! I guess we did enough damage. It froze in its tracks gazing at the small shiny pieces of broken crystal.

We all charged it at once, hoping it would be easier.

I thought it'd be simple after that, but boy was I wrong...

* * *

**Charlie's POV**

In a split second the bad just got worse, that swamp monster started thrashing and stomping wildly once it learned it's weakness was exposed. Throwing us all in different directions. My first concern like always in a situation like this is to look for my teammates, I saw Brittany sprinting frantically trying to avoid the monsters colossal feet. I made an impressive dash toward her and commanded the winged Pikmin for her. To my surprise they knew what to do; they dove for her and swept her in the air out of harm's way, they brought her to me.

"Charlie where's Alph!?"

My eyes scanned around the beast, I had to find him fast. As luck would have it I spotted him in the swampy mud water directly under the giant, swimming desperately to avoid getting crushed by the panicked creature.

"Stay here where it's safe!" I told Brittany, "I'm going to get him!"

I ran like hell into the danger zone. I spotted him in the swampy mud water directly under the giant, swimming desperately to avoid getting crushed by the panicked creature. I was about to make a bold move, but just as quickly he had to dive to avoid a crushing blow. He reemerged but in an even quicker pace a wave caused by the monster's rampage forced him back under.

_I gotta do something fast or he's dead!_

Just as I finished my thought the creature whirled around and started running for me! I tore like heck across the deep mud.

_Now I'll be dead if I don't move!_

I flipped around and scampered madly out of the way, the ground shook like a seismic wave beneath me causing me to stumble.

I heard the other predators of this forest panicking at the oncoming chaos. Trees were falling! Boulders were being crushed to pebbles! The ground was being caved down by this gigantic brute! It was chaos! Absolute chaos!

The beast suddenly veered around and began to head for a massive tree. I feared the worst. The sound when the creature impacted the tree sounded like a massive explosion. To my surprise the tree didn't even budge! The monster fell on its body and by a stroke of luck a large, sharp branch fell from above and pierced right smack-dab into the center of its body. The monster made an agonizing roar before it fell out of my sight. I couldn't tell whether it was dead or not.

All of the forest was quiet now, except for the rain. From behind me, I heard the little noise that the Pikmin make when they're carrying something.

What I saw made my stomach turn, a small group of blue Pikmin emerged from the giant mud pond carrying Alph. I wasn't sure that he was all right.

I ran to him, "Alph!"

The blues set him down in front of me, they too, looked nervous. They had a sad look in their eyes and were making worried sounds.

Fortunately, he casually climbed out of his dazed state, "Captain? What's going on? Where did-?"

"Alphie!" Brittany had rushed over, interrupting him, "Are you okay!?"

He gave her an impish smile, "I'm a little dizzy from the tossing around but, I'm okay."

"I'm glad you're okay." She softly said. Huh? Why is her face suddenly red?

The thought of Olimar flashed in my mind, "All right guys, we have to find Olimar. You did say his signal was coming from that beast right Alph?"

Alph jumped to his feet, "That's right! He'd better have some answers for us when we get him! So where is the monster?"

"Right over there!" I directed to the saving tree, "Let's go get him! Onward! Forward! Through the fog!"

"Or in this case rain!" Brittany corrected me.

"Whichever! Let's get going!"

Off into the woods we went, tromping through mud and sopping plants. Not the most pleasant thing to do, but we kept our heads high and wits about! Approaching the signal with caution, we came across a rather surprising sight.

Olimar was laying right next to the creature, unconscious again it figures. But miraculously the beast was dead! By pure luck we were bailed out of another jam! I do admit it was quite a gruesome sight, the massive branch pinning the monster's corpse to the ground.

All of a sudden a massive fruit fell from above, possibly fell from the tree the beast crashed into.

Naturally Brittany was the first to make a comment, "Wow! What a delectable looking piece of fruit!" She just as quickly became angry, "And there's Captain Olimar... that food thief! He better still have our juice!" She began moving toward him fast.

I reached out to stop her, but Alph took her hand first saying, "Brittany, take it easy. As much as we all want to after what he did to us, it'd be a bad idea to hurt him."

She stared at him, but instead of looking mad she looked... flushed?

Never mind, "It looks like he's back in his unconscious state... Let's get him back to the Drake!"

"Don't forget the fruit!" Brittany added.

Back at the Drake, we analyzed both the fruit and Olimar. As I feared his suit had put him back into stasis. Fortunately he still had all of our juice.

"Oh thank goodness he has my ducky!" I blurted out, snatching my comfort object into my arms and hugging it tight. Not caring that Alph and Brittany were staring at me weird.

"Captain Olimar is going to pay for stealing our food!" Brittany fumed, "When he wakes up he is in for an interrogation of a lifetime!"

* * *

**Alph's POV**

_We managed to capture the thief Olimar, that Hocotation who had been eluding us, Brittany was still angry even after we took off into low orbit. But she has every right to be! She had just gone to the storage to get something... O-KAY she just came back with a rope. She's going to tie up Olimar. Well at least he won't run away anymore._

_This may seem a bit odd to say but... Brittany's fiery side really emphasizes her beauty ... Well, she already is quite lovely even if... Gah! What am I drifting off too!?_

_Okay where was I? Um... Right! We retrieved our stolen food supplies, and Charlie was quite happy to have his rubber ducky back. Hmm... I'm starting to think that something really fishy is going on here..._

_We need to get to the bottom of things..._

* * *

**Author's Note: Hi guys and girls, friends and neighbors, how's it going? I hope everybody had a wonderful New Year! I would like to apologize for this late update. I was busier than I thought I would be! (Figures this happens when I do a cliffhanger ending...****^_^") I hope you guys are happy with this chapter as I. Now next chapter will be quite fun! :D **

**Stay Flying everyone!**


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